The Person Behind The Hope
Hello lovely people of the internet! Thank you for stopping by my website and taking the time to get to know me.
My name is Susie, I am a hopeful being living in beautiful Australia.
Across my accounts, I share my journey of finding hope whilst living life with multiple invisible chronic conditions. I hope by sharing my story it will help raise awareness as well as make others feel more understood and less isolated.
Living with invisible chronic illnesses is tough but you can still live a life of love, hope and meaning. In many ways becoming ill has been a blessing, it has taught me about the important things in life and how to find the positive in every situation.
Why is it called Find Your Own Hope?
I called my blog Find Your Own Hope because I truly felt I needed to actively go out, find and create my own hope.
I began to realise that I only needed one thing to keep me pushing through all the tough days, so I started my mission to find it for myself and help others find their hopes too!
How did Find Your Own Hope begin?
Not long after my 18th birthday I became bed-bound and so began my journey to Find My Own Hope. At this time I had just completed my first year of part-time university and was suddenly struck with new severe symptoms I had never experienced before.
During my time confined to my bedroom I started to realise I needed something to keep me going. I needed something to work towards. I needed to find my own hope.
My First Hope
For me, my first personal hope that kept me going was donating my hair to charity. For as long as I can remember I always wanted long hair, but try as I might I could never grow it…then I got sick. I became so ill I spent weeks on end in bed. Naturally, I wasn’t well enough to get my hair cut and over time it grew.
Coping with chronic illnesses is difficult and at times I would wonder ‘why is this happening to me?’ and ‘how can anything good possibly come from this?!’ Then, one day I went to a doctor and he noticed I had ‘beau lines’ on my nails. These are lines that form because of severe illness and trauma resulting in the body stopping growth.
After a while I realised that my body had pretty much shut down growth, but I still had decent hair. I thought “maybe there is something I can do with this?” – so I researched donating my hair. Then began my hope.
I decided to grow my hair as long as I could for the next 2 years and in late 2018 I donated my hair and raised money and awareness for the illnesses I suffer from.
My hope was that chopping my hair would make someone else who is struggling happy. My heart soared at the idea because when I was young I honestly dreamed of the day I would have long hair. Now the day has come and it means more to me than I could have ever imagined.
The Power of Hope
In the words of Friedrich Nietzsch:
“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how”
Having hope is incredibly powerful. It can be the reason you keep going and pushing through all the tough days.
For this reason, it should be something very personal and unique to you — you need to make it your own!
Please remember to be kind, as everyone is fighting their own battles and remember to find your own hope, it will keep you going to the very end. It isn’t always easy but find it, create it and cherish it – make it yours.
Thank you for reading this far, it means so much to me that you took time out of your day to do so.
Frequently Asked Questions?
What are the chronic illness conditions I suffer from?
I suffer from flares of a few different conditions but the main illnesses that impact my daily life are Postural Orthostatic Tachychardia Syndrome (POTs), Endometriosis and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis aka Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS/ME).
Where can I learn more about these chronic conditions?
I have written a few blogs posts and articles about these conditions – you check them out here:
Blog posts on Postural Orthostatic Tachychardia Syndrome (POTs)
Susie and Pots: a story of a sick kid with an invisible illness
Articles + Blog Posts on Endometriosis
Eureka Street: We all need to know about endometriosis
https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/we-all-need-to-know-about-endometriosis
If You Know 10 Women, You Need to Know About Endometriosis
Articles + Blog Posts on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis aka Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS/ME)
The Difference Between ‘Being Tired’ and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
How can I get involved, get in touch or work with you?
If you want to get in touch just to say hi or work together you can either contact me via the contact page on my website or DM me on Instagram @findyourownhope.
Where are you from?
I am from Queensland, Australia!
