'M.E. myself and I' by Anna Redshaw

I am always proudest of my bouncebackability. While my body remains weak, my spirit has a way of dusting itself off after each and every setback, flare, crash or bump in the road, and it just keeps going.

I am more than a little under the weather at the moment. But it’s got me thinking about how, when I feel at my most vulnerable, most fragile, and at my weakest, I am actually at my strongest.

As individuals with chronic illness, and in-particular those with misunderstood and stigmatised M.E, I see a quiet but unrivalled strength in every one of us.

Our ability to find hope, even on the darkest days, is second to none. And when we do waver, others within the community scoop us up and help us to cling on until the latest storm has passed. I’ve been helped back up this last week, by people enduring their own battles but always selflessly willing to hold my hand when I need it.

We have an incomparable ability to savour and celebrate the seemingly mundane. Our bodies may be floundering but my goodness are we gutsy in the face of adversity.

We have the strongest spirits of anyone I have ever known. I am in awe of us. Every single day.