Show Up for Yourself on Your Lupus Journey

Often, on our lupus journey, we forget about ourselves. We give so much to everyone in our lives. We are ultimately neglecting our own needs and desires. It's true. We worry more about how we can help others than we work hard to help ourselves. Often it becomes a habit and hurts us more than it helps us. It’s time to show up for yourself on your lupus journey.

Take care of you

It is difficult to be in pain and take care of yourself. Lupus can take away your self-esteem and self-love. As a result, you begin to work harder for others to feel better about who you are. Lupus is tricky messing with your mind. That’s why it’s so important to understand your duty to yourself.

As I walk on this lupus journey, I have learned the importance of taking care of myself. I work hard to stay afloat when I am down and out and no one is around. Consequently, that alone time in my pain has taught me the duty I have to myself. The duty to do for me first so I can do for others. I heard someone say, "you can’t pour from an empty cup." That statement hit me hard. I have made it a point to fill my cup and cause it to overflow in my lupus journey.

Ways to show up for yourself on your lupus journey

There are so many different ways to show up for yourself. The most important thing to understand is that you come first. You come first on your lupus journey. Before thinking about doing anything for someone else, you must first help yourself.

Take time to explore your wants and needs

When I was diagnosed, I had to relearn myself. I took the time to explore my wants and needs. Diagnosis took so much from me. Reintroducing myself, I felt the need to explore how to self-advocate for my desires.

Build self-awareness

Further along on my lupus walk, I had to become self-aware. Aware of what I was doing in my own life. I built up my awareness of when to push my body and when to sit down. Building that self-awareness has helped me to understand my body and create concrete boundaries.

Prioritize yourself

As lupus began to rear its ugly head more and more, prioritizing myself became necessary. I realized that the only person that could care for my mental health during a lupus crisis was me. Choosing to better myself mentally by putting myself first became a commitment to my overall care. I began to see the value of being with myself. Significantly, I was able to tap into every feeling. Be they good or bad, and I was able to address them.

Positive self-talk

As a result of taking time to explore, building self-awareness, and prioritizing myself, I changed my self-talk. It’s amazing how powerful your words can be over you. I learned to speak kinder to myself, especially when going through a flare. It became important to me to talk positively with myself and others. Doing this helped me understand that each day with lupus is not the same. As a result, I realized my words had power on my lupus journey.

Lupus is not easy, but there is hope

This lupus journey is not easy. In fact, it is confusing and can put you in a negative space. I found that showing up for myself gives me the power to see each day through. When you can realize the beauty of your life beyond lupus, it makes it easier to show up for you.

Today, take a moment to see your beauty. Make sure you take steps to show up for yourself on your lupus journey. No one else can walk on this journey for you. Only you can take steps to help you progress and be well beyond lupus.

Are you ready to show up for yourself on your lupus journey? Let me know what steps you feel you can work on to be there for you.