Go Read This

Jennifer, over at Understanding Invisible Illnesses, has penned an excellent, powerful post entitled Speaking For Myself....Whoever That May Be. In it, she explores her relationship to her autoimmune disease, specifically:

".....The affirmations we hear in our communities are legitimate, but I have concerns about their accuracy.  The two I hear most are "I am not my illness" and "my illness does not define me", and they evoke an emotional response for me.  I am only speaking for myself - I can fathom many reasons why (and how) both statements may be spot-on for a lot of people.  But while I believe I am not my illness...I do think my illness defines me, or at least many things about me.  And that that's ok.

I am not my illness, but you must meet Sjogren's to have met me."  

Go. Read the rest on Understanding Invisible Illnesses here.
Image found on UII.