This poem, originally written for mental health, could also apply to Multiple Sclerosis where fatigue and pain are invisible and helps explain how we may cope with it.
If the mountain seems too big today,
then climb a hill instead.
If the morning brings you sadness,
it’s OK to stay in bed.
If the day ahead weighs heavy
and your plans feel like a curse,
there’s no shame in rearranging;
don’t make yourself feel worse.
If a shower stings like needles
and a bath feels like you’ll drown,
if you haven’t washed your hair for days,
don’t throw away your crown.
A day is not a lifetime,
a rest is not defeat;
don’t think of it as failure,
just a quiet, kind retreat.
It’s OK to take a moment
from an anxious, fractured mind,
the world will not stop turning
while you get realigned;
the mountain will still be there
when you want to try again,
you can climb it in your own time.
Just love yourself till then.
By Laura Ding-Edwards
Thanks to @Shirl who kindly sent me the poem.
DARK SPIRIT
I’m cast and confined in the shadow of a ghost
A phantom formed from a former life
Inside that gloom of sadness and anger
What was bright now has been darkened
What was solid is formless and fluid
What was straight is twisted and tangled
What’s gone what is and what’s to come
All contained in an obscure reflection
Everything I see hear think or do
Is coloured in a shade of what’s been stolen
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