Warrior Beads.

Today I received a really cool package in the mail. 

It was my Warrior Beads!

If you've never heard of Warrior Beads, don't worry! I'll give you a little overview before I show you mine. 

The idea is very similar to Beads of Courage and Bravery Beads. They are a way to physically tell your health story and document your journey through a series of beads. There are different color beads for different things, and different shaped beads for some things, too. You receive a big shipment of beads at first, after you tell them how many of each procedure/test/surgery/etc you have been through. Then you request more beads as you need them. Your collection grows as your story continues. 

However, the difference between Warrior Beads and the other bead programs is that you don't age-out of Warrior Beads. The premise behind them is that anyone, at any age, fighting any illness should be able to receive them. And I couldn't agree more. Just because I'm 24 doesn't mean my fight is any more or less relevant or worthy than someone who is 10 or someone who is 75. And just because I have Lyme and other similar things going on doesn't mean my struggles are more or less than those of someone fighting something else.

A battle is a battle. A warrior is a warrior.

So, without further ado (because, let's be real, you clicked on this post because you saw it had a picture.), here are my beads! When I received them we realized we had totally miscalculated a few things, so I'm going to have to request quite a few more of a couple colors. But for now this is what I have! 

When I first started stringing them, I got the weirdest feeling in my stomach. It was so strange to see the things I have gone through over the past few years documented all in one place in front of me. My mom and I sat there and thought through the order of everything so I could string them as close to chronological order as possible, and I kept saying "can you believe I've done all this?!" 

It's bittersweet. 

Part of me looks at them and wants to cry. I'm 24 years old, I shouldn't have been through this much stuff. But then part of me looks at them and wants to throw myself a party. I'm 24 years old, I shouldn't have been through this much stuff...but I made it!

I can't wait to look back at my beads when I'm older and be proud of the journey I went on. But for now, while I'm still very much on it, I will continue to tell my story through my beads and hope that each one I string is my last. And, more so, I will be thankful for each one, because it is one more thing I'm stronger than--one more thing that I've survived.