Acceptance

These last few weeks leading up to the Christmas holidays have led to me asking a few big questions about my life. Do I want to stay at university? Should I stay at university? And then the opposite questions which should be asked, as I have found that sometimes the answers don't match up.

Do I want to stay at university? - I think yes.
Do I want to quit university? - Also, I think yes.
But do I want to leave university? - Not really.

The estate agent who we rent our student house from is asking us to confirm whether we will be staying in the house next year. The first step was deciding whether to stay at the house here or go back into halls, as that choice is basically friends vs practicality and better health. I decided on the house, feeling that having friends nearby was a useful thing but the decision wasn't an easy one.

I then realised why the decision wasn't easy - I wasn't sure about staying at university at all. I was meant to sign a contract for the house last Saturday and I couldn't even make it through the door of the estate agent before I freaked out.

Which has led me to think about acceptance. Acceptance of situations is thought of as a healthy step towards feeling positive about things and being grateful for the life you've been given. I have been told various things from well-meaning people about their opinions surrounding acceptance. Some people say I shouldn't accept that I am very unlikely to recover, and some say that too much acceptance can be a bad thing.

But how am I meant to move on with my life without understanding and accepting my state of health? Maybe I will get better, but realistically can I plan for the >5% possibility? I have to think practically, which isn't something I really like doing.

I don't feel the unbearable fatigue any more than makes me unable to move, but I think I have just gotten used to it as all the symptoms I have had in the past only when I have severely over-done things are now constant instead of rare and I have developed new symptoms. Is this acceptance? My body has acclimatised and now all these aches and pains and weaknesses and everything else are part of life. I feel so old at 19, or at least my body believes it is way beyond the teenage years.

I also am amazed to think that it has been almost 11 months since my relapse (that I haven't recovered from by the way!). And that overall I have had CFS/ME for 4 1/2 years. That's crazy.