The Power of Being Understood
There’s something profoundly comforting about feeling understood. Not just heard, not just acknowledged, but truly gotten—when someone looks at you, takes in the whole picture, and says, “I see what’s happening here.” It’s rare, and when you find it, it feels like exhaling after holding your breath for too long.
This past week reminded me just how important that is. When you spend a lifetime navigating a complicated health situation—one that doesn’t fit neatly into a diagnostic box—it can start to feel like you’re speaking a language no one else understands. Doctors, specialists, endless tests… and still, you’re left translating your own experience into something palatable enough to be taken seriously. It’s exhausting.
And then, every once in a while, you meet someone who truly listens—someone who doesn’t just force the puzzle pieces into a pre-cut mold but takes the time to understand the image they’re meant to create. It doesn’t magically fix everything, but it shifts something. It’s validation. It’s a reminder that you’re not difficult, you’re just living in a body that doesn’t play by the usual rules. And that’s real.
We all deserve that kind of understanding—not just in medicine, but in life. It changes everything.
