10 years ago, I received my arthritis diagnosis and life changed for me forever. I am not sure I truly realised at the time being only 17, but I was about to embark on a rollercoaster that included going from not being able to walk to claiming my professional triathlon license, running ultramarathons, climbing in Yosemite and a load of other places, moving countries 5+ times, passing the Bar and a host of other things. All things that I TRULY thought were gone from me forever as far as life opportunities went. So, here are my

10 Lessons for 10 Years: 

1. “It is ok to not be ok” – I wish I had learned this one sooner. It’s taken nearly 10 years to unpack what that truly means, but I didn’t really want to accept the fact I wasn’t well. In fact, I wanted to ignore it in the hopes that I could beat it into submission and prove that it wasn’t true. Well, it is. 
2. “Things are going to be different. You are going to be different. It does not mean you can’t be you” – Go live life, chase dreams, goals, friends, partners, education, everything else you could possibly want. Don’t let other people decide who or what you are or what you are capable of. Go do what you think you can do. 
3. “It’s ok to ask for help” – Still learning this one, let me get back to you. 
4. “Be as open as you can be, but don’t close yourself off from everyone” – This one took me FAR too long to realise. When I was first diagnosed I didn’t want to really tell anyone, but then I realised that for me I was just compounding the issue; no one was talking about 17 year olds with Arthritis… 
5. “It’s ok to not compromise on things when it comes to your health” – Sometimes you need to say no, even if you want to say yes. It is hard for people to understand the “cost” of saying yes to the same things they get to say yes to. You need to be ok with saying no. And no, you don’t need to explain yourself every time if you don’t want to.
6. “Find yourself a mantra to keep yourself grounded and sane” – hospital appointments, life appointments, goals and ambition. All of these are extremely draining pursuits. I personally found “Solutions Not Excuses, Dude” to be my focus point. I wanted to figure out HOW I get to where I wanted to go, not the reasons why I COULDN’T get to where I wanted to go. 
7. “It’s ok to cry and complain” – Enough said. Not crying doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. Not complaining doesn’t make it disappear. 
8. “People are kinder than you think they can be” – The one’s who really matter want you to be ok. The issue is they can’t help you, really, and that makes it hard for them as well as for you! But, they can be amazing support networks if you let them be. 
9. “Find what works for you and stick with it” – it is a cruel, long, process to find what lifestyle works for you and how you best navigate it all. Experiment, listen, talk to others, try new things and see what helps! There is no one size fits all with all this. 
10. “Master your circumstances, or you will be mastered by them” – take as much control over your life as you possibly can, but realise you can only control the controllables. It is not fun being at the mercy of health and everything that comes with it.