A few months ago a “friend” said to me, “Business comes first, friendship second”. This absolutely stunned me. It made me wonder who would be there for her on a bad day, who would be there in the future, etc. For me it falls more into this order: health, friendship, business. Due to my Gastroparesis, health has to come before absolutely everything. I’m starting to figure out an equation that works for me and I am determined to stick to it. (I’m now knocking on every piece of wood in the house so that I didn’t just jinx myself with that statement.)
The photo below states my new mantra.
My goal is to have an amazing quality of life in spite of Gastroparesis. If that means resetting my goals in life, then so be it. What does a making a living mean if it is killing you in the process? Shouldn’t you have some energy left at the end of the day to be able to see your friends, to talk to your family, to play fetch with your dog? On April 1st (yes, April Fool’s day), I decided to look at 4/1/2013 forward. I decided to start analyzing every aspect of my life to determine how I could make it better. How could I simplify my life? How could I set myself up for long-term success in spite of Gastroparesis? I have pinpointed a few areas and am hopeful that the necessary chain of events will occur in order for this new path to come to fruition.
For the first time in a LONG time, I am beginning to feel like there is a bright light on the horizon and sunny days ahead. I’m hopeful that this time around that the path will be a direct one and will not take me a long time to reach the horizon. Only time will tell, but I will continue to stay positive and focus on what I can control.
No matter how many months go by, I will be dumbfounded over how narrow of a worldview some people can have. I will be dumbfounded over how some people will put their career and climbing of the corporate ladder as a priority over everything else in their life. In this regard, I am thankful that I have Gastroparesis. It makes you extremely happy for the little things in life and makes you realize just how amazing your friends are that stick around!
Thanks to all of my friends who have been a HUGE support to me over the past week as I have been working through charting my new course in life! You give me strength every day without even realizing it!
~Millie
Adventures with Gastroparesis 
You are inspirational! I had a rough day today, and this really is exactly what I needed to be reminded of. Thank you:)
Thanks Amy!
It isn’t always easy to keep your chin up, but it is so much nicer to look at the clouds instead of the ground! 🙂
Glad you got a pick-me-up!
~Millie
What another great posting! One of my good friends I used to work with would call those “draining” types of people, “energy vampires!” As people over time didn’t understand my condition (some even thought that I was making it up!) drifted away, I’ve gotten used to having just a small circle of friends and family (this wasn’t much of an adjustment for me anyway since I was always like that… not a “social pinball” of sorts, ha-ha), and that minimizes stress and flare-ups.
Like you said, people that put career first before anything else I feel like are trying to run/hide from something and are not comfortable with themselves. Most probably wouldn’t even “slow down” even if they had to because of a possible chronic illness and thus, the evil cycle would continue.
There is so much more to life than just working to make society “happy.” I wish more people could read this blog and learn that along with GP awareness! 🙂
“Energy Vampires” is a perfect term!
I’m excited about my potential new path, but there are still some details to hammer out. I am hoping that it pans out because I think it will really help me get my symptoms more in check. 🙂
~Millie