In 2022, I had mysterious stomach pain that kept me down more often than I’d like. Eating and drinking made things hurt and my soul hurt from having to flake over and over again. I felt so low and defeated. Like I was trying my best and my best just wasn’t good enough. After we found out my gallbladder was the issue and had that sucker removed, I’ve started to gain back my strength. I’m a cleaner so getting back to full strength has been a slow process because when climbing the stairs makes you huff and puff, imagine toting a vacuum. But about a week ago, I made a client’s shower shiny clean and I smiled with pride and remembered that I’m good at cleaning!
This month we’re talking about knowing your strengths. But sometimes, we already know them, we just forget. When life continually beats you down again and again and again, it’s easy to get lost in the weakness we feel and the lack we see daily. When the couch is our spot and we’re watching the same show again, it’s discouraging to look at our lives and feel defeated and useless. After a while, we often forget we have any strength at all.
Except we do! And we just need reminding that we have them. Remember that you are not your infertility. You are not your miscarriage. You are not your loss. Those things have affected your life and will always stay with you, but that doesn’t mean you’re out of the game. You are strong and capable. You have so much life to live. Remember your strengths and rise when you’re ready. The world will be here waiting.
Casey Watkins has been married to her IT handyman for ten years. Together, they live in an old house on the east side of Indianapolis with their cats, Charlie and Hermione. In their nine years of infertility, they’ve renovated their house, visited Iceland and baked a lot of cake. You can read more about Casey on her Instagram, chasing_cozy!