Lyme month day 2–Let’s be Honest

I’m going to start this month off by being real honest with you. 

I was—and maybe still am—very hesitant to pick my blog back up for Lyme month this year. 

It’s easy to feel like I have have told my story already. It’s easy to feel like I have overstayed my welcome in the sharing space. It’s easy to feel like I’m at the point of just being annoying. And it’s hard to teeter on the line of putting helpful information out there by sharing my experiences vs seeming like I’m complaining. 

But the truth of the matter is...my story is not over. I am living it every day. And I still have a lot of things to say. And I’d be doing myself, and anyone who cares at all about what I have to say, an injustice if I stopped saying those things. My fear—because that’s ultimately what it is—should not stop me from saying what is on my mind, and on my heart. 

What if that fear stops me from saying something that makes someone realize that maybe they need to get their symptoms checked out?

What if that fear stops me from saying what someone else needs to hear to help them through the hardest part of their journey? 

What if that fear stops me from saying what someone needs to hear to help them help the person in their life that needs them the most? 

What if that fear stops me from saying the thing that clicks and makes the difference even for me? 

I can’t take that chance. 

The fear is mine. But the story is mine too. And as hesitant as I was—as I am—I have decided to own the fear and, more so, to own my story. 

No matter what you’re going through in your life, I hope you can do the same. I hope that you can realize that the space you take up—both in the world and in the sharing space—is important because it’s yours and only yours. I hope you can realize that it is okay to work through fear and do something anyway. Hesitation and fear are valid feelings but they don’t have to be the end all be all. They can work in conjunction with forward motion. I hope you realize that you can do hard things; I hope you realize you can do anything. I hope you realize you are not alone in doing so. 

Sure, writing a blog is not a big thing. But owning fear is. And owning who you are and what you are, beneath that fear, definitely is.

So, let’s do this, year 5. Let’s do it together. Here’s to owning what is ours, owning the space we take up in the sharing space, and being proud of our journey. 

You can do it. Thanks for being here while I do it, too.