“Is RA contagious???”
The silver lining is I can easily separate myself from the people who make me feel worse.
I was always one of those people who went into every relationship preparing myself for disappointment.
I know it makes me sound like a holier-than-thou brat but honestly, I realized very early on that people are selfish.
I can count on my closest friends to not treat me differently. They support me and never make me feel bad about this illness. They are my closest friends for a reason. They are the people who I think are selfless, caring, and happy. They are willing to make small sacrifices for me (like instead of going out, staying in and watching TV, etc.) They never ever come back and throw those situations in my face. They are the people I want and need to surround myself with.
Most of the people I have been friends with for more than ten years, some less.
Recently, I deluded myself into thinking that my co-workers and others actually cared about me. Was I wrong. I carried around a false sense of security. They talked the talk, but if the RA affected them they turned and said it burdened them.
Over the last couple of months, I realized that I need to re-adopt the wariness I always had. If someone cannot support me with this illness I don’t need to spend time on them. Sorry, but this is with me for life and I cannot waste energy convincing people this disease will not affect them.
It could take weeks or months to fully gauge how supportive someone can be, so I guess I should thank these people. In just a couple of minutes, with questions like these, they are telling me everything I need to know.
Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.
the Rite of Aging...early 