Balancing the Optimism

I think one of the most important things about being someone who is ill is finding a certain balance - especially in order to bring awareness to rare diseases, or illnesses that are virtually unknown.
This balance is tough to find and even tougher to keep.

Firstly - we have to keep reminding ourselves that our pain is real, our suffering is legitimate, and that we are justified, in every way, to have feelings of doubt and despair and resentment and simple frustration for having to endure it. That vocalizing our discontent and allowing ourselves to complain and to vent is VITAL for our ability to move forward.

Secondly - we must not remain in that gloomy disposition. Allowing ourselves to feel every emotion and dissatisfaction with our situation is normal (and even encouraged), but we can't stay that way. We have to remind ourselves that things could always be worse and that we have a million things to fight for and to appreciate. That we are not destitute, we are not without hope, we are not without some kind of happiness - because we are alive. This could very well be the most difficult. How easy would it be to simply relent and give up to that self-loathing that comes with illness? How much do we desire an easier path - one without fighting and without that consistent voice in our heads encouraging us to be more productive? How much do we long for those comfortable clothes surrounded by teddy bears and a fort of comforters to keep us from facing up to the every day challenges of suffering with incurable pain?

Finding this balance - finding that sweet spot of being believed and having our fears and pain acknowledged without falling into such a Depression that it takes over every aspect of our life -> THIS is how to cope.
And the situation is in a perpetual state of change, which makes it all the more difficult to control. It is like using a leveler on a moving ship through a storm. You have to keep focus and try to hold it still and level as the waves rage around you. The more you fall one way or the other, the less stability you have to get through the storm.

Level.
Balance.