In the last few months I have been so blessed to meet so many new “friends” that have CF. I have come to the conclusion that there are two types of CFers out there. The first group are the patients that really have a negative outlook on their disease and use their disease as a crutch, as an excuse. These are the people who look for sympathy because of their CF. I find that these people are often sick. I believe this could be because of their outlook on their disease. I know that some people’s health is worse that others, but I have met some really sick people whose attitude was far from negative and even on their death bed were grateful and full of positive. I believe that if you wake up every morning and tell yourself how sick you are and concentrate on that fact alone, you will be sick. But if you welcome everyday with a smile and look for the thankfulness in everything you do have… it makes the long journey a little easier… Please don’t get me wrong, I know we all feel this way sometimes, but some people I have met live life with this “whoo is me attitude” and that makes me sad for them… You have to find the positive and know that it could always be worse…

“I once felt sorry for myself because I had no shoes, then I met a man with no feet”

 The second group are those people who have the attitude of “This disease does not define me, nor limit me, the only thing this disease does is MAKE ME STRONGER!!” I enjoy talking with these people. This is the energy that BREATHE 4 TOMORROW wants to bring into the CF community. I feel like if we could start showing the little ones with CF that it is NOT a death sentence and that they are going to live long fuller lives, that our community is going to grow older and older and sstronger and stronger… I consider myself one of these people, I have my hard times and I get down sometimes when I am sick or when I have to go home because I have to do my breathing treatments, but I can usually pull myself right out of it… I welcome each new day with a smile and I say “thank you” and I say it out loud… and on top of it… I FEEL IT!!

I hope with all my heart that I did not offend anyone with this blog. I have just had a really negative person that I have been dealing with in the last couple of days and he really got me thinking about this. I felt bad for him because of his outlook on life. I know that there is negative when it comes to our disease, believe me… and please don’t think that I don’t… I just wanted to share my outlook and I hope that if someone reading this can change their thoughts on their CF, if I can help one person feel a little better then it is definitely worth it.

 Thank you all so much!!