Latest / R.E.A.L. Talk for REAL L.Y.F.E. / Invisible Battles, Visible Love: Supporting Someone with Lupus

Transcript

Invisible Battles, Visible Love: Supporting Someone with Lupus · R.E.A.L. Talk for REAL L.Y.F.E.

• 0:00
  Welcome to Real Talk for Real Life.
• 0:03
  Realizing everyone is always learning and living your full experience.
• 0:10
  This is where we live out loud, on purpose, and with purpose.
• 0:15
  I'm Coach C, your host, and this is your bonus episode.
• 0:20
  Loving someone living with lupus.
• 0:23
  Some people think love is shown in grand gestures, but
• 0:27
  sometimes love looks like learning a
• 0:30
  disease you never planned to study just because you love the person carrying
• 0:36
  it may is lupus awareness month and today i want to have a real conversation
• 0:42
  not just about lupus but about loving someone living with lupus.
• 0:50
  This episode is personal for me. Before meeting my person, I wasn't deeply educated on lupus.
• 0:56
  I had heard the word before, but I didn't fully understand the weight of it,
• 1:02
  the complexity of it, the unpredictability of it.
• 1:05
  But when you love someone, you learn.
• 1:08
  You listen. You lean in. You start paying attention.
• 1:14
  And what I've learned is this. Lupus is
• 1:17
  not laziness Lupus is not
• 1:20
  inconsistency Lupus is not
• 1:23
  being dramatic Lupus is a
• 1:26
  complex chronic autoimmune disease Where
• 1:29
  the body essentially attacks itself There are different forms of lupus But one
• 1:35
  of the hardest things about this illness Is that many symptoms are invisible
• 1:40
  People may not see the fatigue The inflammation the joint pain,
• 1:47
  the brain fog, the emotional exhaustion,
• 1:51
  the medication side effects, or the frustration of not knowing how your body
• 1:57
  is going to behave from one day to the next.
• 2:00
  And because people can't see it, they often underestimate it.
• 2:06
  Imagine waking up and not fully trusting your own body.
• 2:10
  Imagine wanting to show up fully, but your energy betrays you.
• 2:13
  Imagine pushing through pain while still trying to maintain relationships,
• 2:19
  responsibilities, work, and everyday life.
• 2:24
  That's why compassion matters.
• 2:27
  I'm going to say something important. Loving someone living with lupus is not
• 2:32
  about pity. It's about partnership.
• 2:35
  It's about understanding that some days may require more patience.
• 2:39
  Some days may require flexibility.
• 2:42
  Some days may require grace. But I'll also say this.
• 2:47
  When someone is loyal to their life, when they have a burning desire not to
• 2:53
  give up, When they keep fighting to live fully despite the challenges,
• 2:58
  it ignites something inside of you too.
• 3:01
  Their resilience pushes you to love harder, support harder, listen harder.
• 3:08
  And let me be clear, people living with lupus are not weak.
• 3:13
  Many of them are some of the strongest individuals walking this earth because
• 3:17
  they fight battles nobody can see while still trying to smile through it.
• 3:23
  And honestly, this conversation is one of the reasons I'm so passionate about
• 3:29
  launching Wellness Warriors podcast.
• 3:32
  Because wellness is not just workouts and green smoothies. Wellness is learning
• 3:38
  how to care for the whole person.
• 3:40
  Mind, body, purpose, pain, healing, and humanity.
• 3:48
  Here's your fearless homework. Tonight's homework is simple.
• 3:53
  Lead with more compassion. You never truly know about somebody's battle behind closed doors.
• 4:00
  And if you love someone living with a chronic illness, don't just say you care.
• 4:05
  Learn, listen, lean in.
• 4:09
  This is Real Talk, where we're realizing everyone is always learning and living your full experience.
• 4:18
  This is Coach C. I'll see you in the next one.