The “Get To”

Ilness can make life feel like a long list of obligations that you never signed up for. You have to go to appointments, you have to manage medications, you have to pace your energy, you have to cancel plans you were excited about, and somewhere in all of this your life begins to feel like something that is happening to you instead of something you are living. The shift from “got to” to “get to” is not a delusional positivity trick, it is a challenge against the idea that your life is only a collection of burdens. You do not have to love the limitations or pretend the struggle is fair, but when you begin to notice that you get to advocate for your body, you get to learn patience, you get to build a life that reflects what truly matters rather than what once looked impressive, something changes. You begin to participate again. Even the smallest choices become expressions of authorship of your own life. Chronic illness may narrow the landscape and break illusions, but it does not eliminate your ability to move within it with intention. The language shift reminds you that you are still here, still choosing, still shaping a life that belongs to you rather than a life that simply happened.

Dr. Jeffrey Bone