Mental Health and Chronic Illness : 30 Inspirational Quotes for Sickle Cell Warriors

Life with a chronic illness is hard, and sometimes it's easier to look at the bad instead of the good in life. Deep dive with me as we look at 30 quotes to add even the brightest bit of light to your day.

"One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity." --Albert Schweitzer

"Being a survivor doesn't mean being strong - it's telling people when you need a meal or a ride, company, whatever. It's paying attention to heart wisdom, feelings, not living a role, but having a unique, authentic life, having something to contribute, finding time to love and laugh. All these things are qualities of survivors." --Bernie Siegel

“Those who don't know how to suffer are the worst off. There are times when the only correct thing we can do is to bear out troubles until a better day.” --Deng Ming-Dao

“Most people live in fear of some terrible event changing their lives, the death of a loved one or a serious illness. For the chronically ill, this terrible event has already happened, and we have been let in on an amazing secret: You survive. You adapt, and your life changes, but in the end you go on, with whatever compromises you have been forced to make, whatever losses you have been forced to endure. You learn to balance your fears with the simple truth that you must go on living.” --Jamie Weisman

“Armed with my positive attitude and inherent stubborn nature, I keep my mind focused and my life moving forward. I stop to rest, pout and even cry sometimes, but always, I get back up. Life is giving me this challenge and I will plow through it, out of breath with my heart racing if I have to.” --Amy B. Scher

“Life has pounded me down

and thrashed me around,

Time and time again,

But I always get right back up,

Because I still love life -

Just as the earth still loves

The rain.”

― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“Go through the raging sea, meet your knocked down self and look into your eyes. You will get the drill that you don't belong here. And, you will get back up to rise up like never before.”

― Hiral Nagda

“You rise up to the feats of the unstoppables, every time you lift yourself back up after being thunderously knocked down.”

― Hiral Nagda

“I don’t want my pain and struggle to make me a victim. I want my battle to make me someone else’s hero.” — Unknown

“Behind every chronic illness is just a person trying to find their way in the world. We want to find love and be loved and be happy just like you. We want to be successful and do something that matters. We’re just dealing with unwanted limitations in our hero’s journey.” — Glenn Schweitzer

“Some days are better, some days are worse. Look for the blessing instead of the curse. Be positive, stay strong, and get enough rest. You can’t do it all, but you can do your best.” — Doe Zantamata

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” — Francis of Assisi

“Maybe life isn’t about avoiding the bruises. Maybe it’s about collecting the scars to prove that we showed up for it.” — Hannah Brencher

“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” — Napoleon Hill

“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” —Margaret Thatcher

“When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on.” — Theodore Roosevelt

“One of the happiest moments in life may be when you find the courage to let go of what you can’t change.” — Unknown

“When something's difficult to come by, you'll do that much more to make sure it's even harder if not impossible to lose.” —Sarah Dessen

“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” —Alice Walker

“My strength does not come from lifting weights. My strength came from lifting myself when I was knocked down.” —Bob Moore

“Please be patient with me. Sometimes when I’m quiet, it’s because I need to figure myself out. It’s not because I don’t want to talk. Sometimes there are no words for my thoughts.” — Kamla Bolaños

“What would the hero of your life’s movie do right now? Do that!” — Joe Rogan

“Do not believe the things you tell yourself when you’re sad and alone.” — Unknown

“The world is more magical, less predictable, more autonomous, less controllable, more varied, less simple, more infinite, less knowable, more wonderfully troubling than we could have imagined being able to tolerate when we were young.” — James Hollis

“The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave. It’s the age-old struggle – the roar of the crowd on one side and the voice of your conscience on the other.” —Douglas MacArthur

“I can’t tell you when, but I can promise you it will get better, it will get easier, and it will all be worthwhile. Just promise me you won’t ever give up.” — Unknown

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work; you don’t give up.” —Anne Lamott

“A good half of the art of living is resilience." — Alain de Botton

“Regret for the things we have done will be tempered by time. It is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.” — Sydney J. Harris

“Look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.” — Jacob A. Riis

I hope these can add a little sparkle in your days. Hang in there, it will get better.