“The battles that count aren’t the ones for gold medals. 

The struggles within yourself – 

the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us – 

that’s where it’s at.”

– Jesse Owens

I had an experience that made me think of this quote. 

Many times over the years I’ve been told I don’t look sick.

And I don’t feel sick. 

I think of sick as throwing up, coughing, fever. I’m not sick. (Thankfully).

I am uncomfortable. In pain. 

And the worst part is when the pain just randomly hits out of nowhere. Sometimes the pain makes sense. I spend 30 minutes pulling weeds and gardening, my legs hurt. My son and I go shopping at Target (such a huge store), and I’m hurting.

But a couple of weeks ago, my husband and I went out to lunch. I was ok. We were walking to our car in the adjoining parking lot, and all of a sudden I clutched my husband’s hand. An intense pain gripped my left thigh. We found a ledge to sit down on. And while I tried to take deep breaths, I quietly cried behind my sunglasses.

I cried because of the pain.

And, I cried because I was out with my husband, celebrating his birthday, and I couldn’t even walk to our car. 

The pain subsided enough for me to get up and keep walking. But for the rest of the day my thigh hurt. The kind of lingering hurt you get after you’ve clumsily walked into the corner of a table or something. 

Except I hadn’t walked into anything. I had simply walked.

And some days, it’s harder than others.