BUILDING SELF-TRUST AFTER DIAGNOSIS

When I was diagnosed with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis in 2016, everything shifted. Not just my health. Not just my routines. But my trust in everything I believed about myself. Could I still be reliable? Would I still be able to lend support to my loved ones? Could I reach my goal of entrepreneurship? Becoming a wife? Maybe a mom? I did not know if I could rely on my body anymore. I did not know what a “good day” meant. I did not know how much I could plan without overpromising myself.

And that loss of trust felt heavier than the diagnosis.

What I have learned since then is this: Rebuilding trust with your body is a strategy, and we are more than able.

Trust is not pretending symptoms do not exist or pushing through exhaustion to prove you are still capable. Self-trust is built by listening to the data your body gives. Fatigue, brain fog, and energy shifts are all data points. The goal is not to fight the data. It is to respond wisely.

As a transitions coach living with MS, I believe in building in seasons. Defined priorities. Measured capacity. Intentional structure. But before structure comes awareness.

Here’s my advice for you today. Start here:

Each morning, ask yourself, “What is my capacity today?”

Not what you handled last week. Not what someone else can manage. Not what you wish were true. Build from what is true TODAY. 

Some days your capacity is high. Roll with it. Some days your capacity is limited. Adjust with intention (and lots of grace!).

Adapting is not failure. It is a smart strategy.

Chronic illness forces us to become more self-aware than most people ever have to be. That awareness is not a weakness. It is an advantage. When you trust your body’s signals and respond with intention instead of shame, you begin living in alignment.

Alignment creates sustainability. We are not here just to survive MS, NMOSD, or Lupus. We are here to build lives that work with our bodies, not against them, so that we can THRIVE. That begins with self-trust. And self-trust begins with listening.