For luck, we cross our fingers, knock on wood, making invisible wishes on birthday cakes. We may be hoping for a puppy, a vacation - or for a relentless disease to settle. The other day, when I was being wished luck, I was told to ‘knock on glass’ and it immediately made me think of having IBD.
Having IBD is a fragile balance of emotional hope, physical rest, and medical intervention. No matter what anyone says, we can’t wish away our illnesses or overcome them just with determination - IBD is a disease of the body, not the soul. But we still do hope, and cross our fingers that the next treatment will work, but instead, maybe we should be knocking on glass.
It still carries the gesture of luck, it’s still a physical action, but life with IBD is more glass-like than wood-like. By this I mean we have to be gentle with ourselves, if we knock too hard we might break - we have to be conscious of our bodies and cannot push ourselves past what we can actually handle.
Life isn’t fair and wishes don’t always come true. But that’s no reason to stop hoping or to stop fighting for a better tomorrow and a better treatment.
So regardless of what you’re wishing for, remember to first have faith in yourself and to never stop hoping - we are knocking on glass waiting to be answered.
Jennie
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