[Intro] Hello, and welcome to my podcast, Empowered to Thrive. I'm so glad you joined me today. I'm your host, Corinne Powell.

I help people pleasers find happiness, embrace courage, and experience peace of mind through inner child healing. If you're desperate for change and not sure how to make it happen, I'm here to guide you along the way. In this space, you'll find motivation to live a life full of joy and resilience.

We will talk all things inner wellness with spirituality interwoven at times. Being a mom to three, parenting will be a topic of conversation for sure. So happy to have you. Enjoy today's episode. 

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Hey friends, I'm so happy to have you with me here on another Wednesday. Thank you for always showing up.

I love discussing these different topics with you. And today I want to bring you into a conversation around chronic illness and chronic fatigue. This is something that affects my life and I know that it affects several of you as well.

What I really want to talk about in this subject is how we can help ourselves out, how we can have compassion on ourselves, and how we can just manage within life and family and work with this being a huge part of our life. 

I have struggled with fatigue for, since I can remember, for as long as I can remember. And it wasn't just until a couple years ago that I actually found out that my iron stores were depleted.

So I was anemic, but it was more than that because my stores were depleted. They were below the lowest point. And I was really actually relieved to know there was a reason for my fatigue.

And even though we haven't gotten to the root of it all, my body has improved. And at least I knew I wasn't just making it up in my head. You know, sometimes when you live feeling a certain way all the time and other people around you are thriving and it doesn't look like they're functioning in the way you have to function, it can start to feel isolating and perplexing and just downright confusing.

To know that I needed to get full hours of sleep and missing some of one night of sleep would set me back for several days. Knowing that I couldn't keep up with everyone else who was the same age as me, but I wasn't able to do all the things they were doing. 

I needed to take naps and take breaks and taking my kids out to go to the grocery store in the middle of the day was exhausting to me.

Getting up for early morning appointments was not something that I was able to do easily. And in fact, I would usually and still do usually look to book things later on in the morning. 

And for those of you that know that have a chronic illness or a chronic fatigue, you know this is real. This is legitimate. And even today as I come on without any makeup, it's because I want you to know that there is another side. We can see people looking good, looking vibrant, fully alive.

And yes, that's a part of how I function, but there's this other piece to my life and I wanted to bring you into it because I feel like it's so important to shed light onto subjects like this. And I want you to know if you struggle with a chronic illness, I see you, I care, I know how hard it can be just to function in the everyday. 

And I want to talk about ways that we can help ourselves out. So what I've had to learn to do, especially over the last couple of years, is pull back on how many things I say yes to, pulling back on how much I expect of myself within a day, pulling back on what I can do even within my family. My husband knows I'm not going to be able to do as much, especially if my night was, if I lost some sleep the night before. 

Or because we homeschool our kids, the days that he's home with them and he's teaching them, they are required to do more school than the days I'm home with them.

And honestly, the real reason for that is because it's too much for my body to manage my kids, homeschool them, keep up with the dishes, the laundry, the housework, and I have my own business, which I still need to make time for even in those days that my husband's working. All of this and supporting other friends and helping people out, all of that is a lot. And I have to pace myself.

So the days I'm with my kids homeschooling, the assignments are cut in half. And the days they're with their dad, the days that he's helping them, they have more of a workload. And that's just one example.

Sometimes we have a frozen meal for dinner, not because I want to always eat the processed foods, but because I recognize that it's worth having something easy for my family than for putting myself out and depleting some more of my energy in a way that just isn't necessary. I have to decide where I can take from and where I need to replenish. So it's strategy.

It's having compassion on yourself. It's choosing to be honest with yourself and the people around you and sharing. You don't have to share all the reasons why.

Your no or your yes should be enough. But sometimes people need more information. And then yes, it's recognizing that your body can't do as much.

And it's okay. There's no shame in that. I want you to know that your body is still good.

I tell my body it's good. It's very capable. It's strong.

But it's also battling something that causes it to feel less energized than some of the people next to me. And on the days I feel good, it's so exciting. And I have to be careful not to do too much because sometimes then you set yourself back.

But I have learned over the years how to expect less of myself, how to have more compassion, how to be honest and express what I need, even asking for help. I don't know about for you, but for me, I was a yeser. I would say yes to anything and everything.

It didn't matter what it was going to put me out. It didn't matter. I was there to help people.

Well, it's been very hard to know I'm disappointing people and I'm letting them down and I'm telling them no, I can't sometimes. And I still say yes too much. I'm still working on it.

But I've improved a lot and I'm really proud of myself for that. Sometimes showing up without makeup is just what I need to do because it gives a clear reflection and because it gives me permission to just come and share with you without having to be a certain way. And that's something I want all of us to hear.

You get to come and be at the table and be with your friends and be wherever you are as you are. If you're exhausted on a day when you have plans and you still want to keep the plans because you feel like it's actually going to replenish you some, go and be yourself. Be exhausted. It's okay. You don't have to put a mask on. In many situations, you don't have to put a mask on.

We learn to put a mask on. We learn because we realize that, oh, some people will reject us if we show up and we're not as capable or as good as the next person. We're not as strong as the next person.

We don't look as pretty as the next person. But I want you to know that you are valuable, that your significance and your worth is not dependent on how much energy you have. It's not dependent on how you look.

It's not dependent on how your body feels. You are worthy. You are valuable because you are, simply because you are.

And obviously, obviously I feel this deeply. And I want you to know that from the depths of my heart, I am convinced of that. I am convinced of your value and your worth and your significance.

And I want you to know that your body's good. Your body's capable. Your body is beautiful.

And I even hear these words, it's not going to always be this way. And that seems contradictory to what many of us might be thinking. But I want to say it.

And for those of you that want to absorb it, go ahead and absorb it. It's not always going to be this way. For sure, there are brighter days ahead.

Life is getting more vibrant. And even for me, even the days when my energy is low, having more compassion for myself, being honest with people, asking for help, saying no to more things that I can't commit to, and using strategy to be for myself, that's actually created a more vibrant life for me. It's actually created a brighter future.

So even as I say things won't always be this way, I feel like in that, it's going to be really important that you implement what you can to take better care of yourself. And you might be doing a great job at taking care of yourself, and if you are, I'm proud of you. 

But for those of us that need to hear that, I want to be one voice to give you permission that says you can be for yourself. And even if it means other people have to pick up the slack, it's okay. Your body needs you to be for it. So advocate for you.

I'm cheering for you, I'm standing with you, and I totally empathize. I know what it's like to not have enough energy when you feel like you just can't get through the day. To be so exhausted and the day's barely begun.

To not feel like you can get out of bed because you're beat. I know what it's like. And I care. So reach out to me if you'd like. I'm here for you. 

[Ending] I want to close out today's episode by thanking you for being here with me.

We've made it to the end, and I hope what I shared has been helpful. If there is anything I've mentioned that you want to talk about in more depth, I would be so glad to connect with you. You can always find me on Instagram ⁠@corinne_changeradically⁠, or go directly to my website changeradically.com⁠. Of course, within the show notes, there's other ways that you can connect with me.

And if there is someone that you think would benefit from this podcast, please share it with them. To help my podcast get more growth and reach more people, please subscribe, review, and rate it. And until next week, I'm wishing you the very best.