Chronic Illness Truth #7

We live in a revolutionary period of time where a lot of judgment is placed on how we look.

Looking "picture perfect" on Facebook and Instagram.
Looking like we don't have any struggles when we really do.
Looking the way that everyone expects us to look, even if it makes us feel unnecessary pressure and undue stress.

I have always been a strong believer of waking up in the morning and looking the way that I WANT to feel.  Not the way that I actually feel.  I've done this from my teenage years, into my adult years, and it has helped me to feel confident in my own skin until I realized that when you have a chronic illness, most people don't believe you unless you "look" sick.  What does "sick" look like anyway?

The bottom line is this:  Just because somebody looks like they have it all together, doesn't mean that they aren't having deep trials and tribulations of their own.  I have spent EXORBITANT amounts of time looking "sick" because I didn't have a choice.  But on the days that I do have a choice, I choose to look as strong and healthy as I can because it makes me feel better when I take care of myself.  So... it's important that we always strive to be KIND.  You never know the invisible battles that someone is fighting every day, and when it comes down to it, how we look on the outside is never as important as how we look on the inside.

God knows our hearts, and we can seek to know the hearts of others as well if we live our lives in LOVE instead of in LOOKS.  

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Comment below if anyone has ever said "well you don't LOOK sick!" to you and how it made you feel!