you don't have to be cured to find healing

So where do I fit into this story? My name is Ashley Babcock, and in some form or another, I have been debilitated by a genetic chronic illness my entire life. The details aren’t important, but suffice it to say, my whole existence has been lived through the exhausting lens of fatigue, brain fog, and pain. I spend twice as much energy to get through my day as most people, and because of my fatigue, I have struggled to connect with people around me for most of my life. Since I was diagnosed at 16, I have received treatments that improved my energy levels and surgeries that drastically reduced the pain. Without access to these treatments, I would be completely disabled for the rest of my life. Even with them, every day is a challenge and much of the energy that I do have is focused on merely surviving. 

When I was first diagnosed, I was both relieved and angry. Relieved because I finally had a name for my suffering and the potential to improve, but angry because of all my illness had taken away from me. While there are treatments for my condition, there is no cure, and the people I met in support groups who were also sick were often much worse than I was, which made me fear that I would lose even more in the future. A life of chronic pain and fatigue loomed uncertainly before me and having such a broken and unreliable body was difficult to cope with. 

I was determined to find a way to overcome my chronic illness anyway, with or without my body’s help. I fought my condition with gritted teeth, pushing through the pain and fatigue, I became even more exhausted and miserable, ignoring pain that was actually a sign of weak and dysfunctional joints that would require several surgeries to salvage. 

Over time, and through painstaking trial and error, I eventually learned that fighting my chronic illness was the wrong way to Triumph. It was making me miserable, and I was sick of it! So, I began a quest to find a way to be happy even while I was chronically ill. Over years of searching, I found people who emulated joy in spite of severe pain, fatigue, and even poverty. Through these examples, I finally found my answers! I would have found them much quicker, however, if I had more positive examples of people with disabilities in my life, so I decided to create a blog that shared stories of people living well with chronic illnesses. I imagined that the logo for the website would include a silhouette of a woman standing triumphantly with her arms in the air in front of a sunrise.

When I told my Mom (Founder of Emily's Place) about the design, she smiled. “That’s Melanie’s book!” she said. Melanie is a long-time friend of my family’s, and The Triumph Book has sat on our shelf for many years. I never paid attention to it before, but I was shocked to discover that what I wanted to do, telling stories about people who have triumphed over their illnesses, was exactly what Melanie had been doing in her Triumph Series all along! Once Melanie heard about the idea, she was thrilled. It aligned perfectly with the books she had already written, and we both felt strongly that we should work together to turn this idea, Chronically Thriving, into a reality by creating not only a book that compiled stories together but also a new version of The Triumph Program designed specifically to help people who are chronically ill.

It has been a joy and privilege to work with Melanie, and I know that little Brynn’s existence has been given far greater than a lifetime of purpose. I hope that Brynn’s life will transform yours, just as it has transformed mine, as you embark on this journey of The Triumph Program. 

You don’t have to be cured to find healing. You can find peace, purpose, and meaning in your journey, right now, even in the middle of the desert. I know that may sound impossible—believe me, I used to think it was impossible too—but if you stick with us through this book, you will find tools that help you go from riding every change in your health with terror like a wild roller coaster to sitting peacefully on the sidelines, embracing every joyful moment as it comes, and using your passions to help others in whatever capacity is possible for you.

CONTACT EMILY'S PLACE

To Start Your Triumph Experience

ingerb@emilysplaceTheOne.org