Intent

I am tired of people implying that my problems are all caused by me. I am willing to take responsibility for things I am responsible for, but I am done pretending that I have control over things that I can’t control.

I have a chronic disease. I did not ask to have it, and I didn’t do anything that made me get it. I am doing everything I can to make my life as good as possible with it. But there are so many things I can’t control: my fatigue and my heat sensitivity, to name two. I can do some things to mitigate some of the symptoms, and I do those. But there is still so much I can’t control.

I know that most people are really trying to be helpful, but I don’t need to hear things that imply it’s all my fault. I also realize that some people say things that sound completely different than they meant them to, but those things still hurt.

I beg you, please think about how what you are about to say is going to sound to the listener. I do try to consider what the intent was behind the words that I hear, but intent is not always easy to figure out.