If you know someone that battles daily with a chronic illness, you know that for a healthy person it can be difficult to understand. We make assumptions about how life is for them based on our own experiences of being unwell.. I commend those who try to empathize. But imagine becoming unwell, and never getting better?
It's a bit of a soul dampener.

You can help!

The smallest acts of kindness made for someone going through chronic illness can mean the world to them, and make their time a little more bearable.. Something as simple as making dinner can be next to impossible for those suffering. The things we all take for granted. Everything they do comes with huge consequences.

Seriously though, imagine being given an allowance every week of say $150. Sounds fun..

But you have to pay for every single thing you do.
PLOT TWIST, you don't know how much it has cost you until it's done. And once the money is used up, you are not able to do ANYTHING. Apart from be in enormous amounts of pain.

Say one day you are feeling up to walking the dog, so you take this beautiful opportunity. But when you're done, you get home to the allowance police taking your entire weeks pay. And now you can't even afford to wash your bum. Oops!!

Imagine having to say to a friend " sorry I can't meet you for coffee this week because i already walked the dog"

They'd be like... "Huh"?

It's a constant bargaining with everything they do. So be the friend who says it's okay if you can't meet for coffee. Instead you could take it to them.

People with chronic illness know that everyone has their own lives. They know people have their own issues going on and often don't reach out for help. They often feel like a burden for doing so. So, be the person that reaches out and brings some light in to their life. It makes a nice change from their living nightmare. Here are 4 things you could do to help!

1. Organize a cleaner.

Whether it's a one off cleaning job, or every week for a year, it will make all the difference and they will be so appreciative to not have to use all of their allowance just trying to make their space nicer. This will give their body much needed time to rest. Remember, people with chronic illness are in pain usually 100% of the time. Pain doesn't care when you need to do something.

2. FOOD

Everyone likes food. It brings people together. It is the ultimate ice breaker. Cook a meal, order take aways for them, send them vouchers for online shopping, or organize a meal delivery service, make some freezer meals, bake them something delicious like hash cookies afghans. Again, a once off or every now & then thing would be like heaven to them.

3. Ask them what they need.

Chronic illies all have differing levels of abilities and situations. Some have been trying to open a jar for 72 hours, some have been trying mow the lawn for 3 years, some are just completely overwhelmed by every day tasks. Some just need to be piggybacked somewhere. I wish for every person going through chronic illness to have at least one person in their lives who asks them what they need every now & then!

4. Just be there

Be there with no judgement, no expectations! People who are chronically ill have grieved for their own lives they once had, and the one they want to be living. The last thing they need is for people to place unrealistic expectations on them, or make them feel bad for not being the person they used to be. If they don't come out nightclubbing anymore, they're not a bad friend, they just don't want to die. And that's OK! Things have changed, they have had to adapt an enormous amount already! If they can adapt, so can you! One of the hardest things about having a life changing illness or disability, is having people you love react negatively to it.
Let them know you believe them, that what they're going through is real, and that there is absolute hope in recovery. Every sick person needs that one person to reassure them! Many are severely secluded and would love to know humans still exist!

-All images apart from GIF are from Unsplash!