This quote has never felt more true for me than at this moment. I’m struggling with my second bout of pneumonia in just over a month, I’m having to pause the vast majority of my medications. It all seems like a disaster. But I think back to February to April and I was much worse than I am now. I’m not great by any means but I am getting better, very slowly.

I think back on the past month and things have been changing slowly for me. I have gotten a blue badge. I am waiting nervously on my PIP assessment. I am on the road to replacing my current manual car with an automatic. I have become more confident to attend playgroups with my two toddlers. I am making small steps to my life changing positively.

My husband asked me the other day if there really was no change in my symptoms. Initially I thought “No”. But looking back at the small changes that have happened, I am starting to see a big change. So Ruth Bader Ginsburg really was correct when she said “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time”.

It is so important that those of us with chronic illnesses focus on the small steps of change, rather than always looking at the bigger picture. I think we often forget how far we have come. We need to pause and look back at our journey. It’s easy to forget how things were in a flare or running up to being diagnosed.

So take a moment today to reflect. How far have you come? What small steps have you taken? Where can you see the real change?