Welcome.

to the space to be honest about ways that life looks differently than we had planned.

Carrie has her Master’s in Social Work degree with a concentration in Behavioral Health. She has also dealt with radically life changing chronic health issues for over a decade, while striving to stay grounded in her faith within the midst of all of it. Drawing from these experiences, this is where Carrie writes about redefining disability, shares helpful tips for managing her pain, and honors stories of striving to choose courage, resolve, and strength of character (ie: grit) while in the midst of suffering .

is it really possible to suffer well?

it sure isn’t natural.

our human nature is to look away.

but what if the pain doesn’t go away? and if distraction’s not an option, how do we cope?

we have to choose to wade in. we have to choose to believe that beauty can be borne of our pain.

learn more about the

i choose grit approach

my take on trauma

behind chronic pain/illness

choosing grit

what’s new

on the blog

7 Tips for Exercising with Chronic Pain.
Blog. | Lifestyle | Pain Management

7 Tips for Exercising with Chronic Pain.

my reconditioning journey Last Sunday, I completed a 7 mile Eucharistic procession (google it 😉 ) by foot, took a power nap, and apparently feeling jacked, proceeded to play soccer alongside my team that same night. I won’t say this was my greatest game or that the day didn’t call for any Tylenol (popped 500mg when I felt severe head…

Chronic Pain Survival Kit
Blog. | chronic pain | community | exercise | Lifestyle | Pain Management | socializing | suffering | work

Chronic Pain Survival Kit

As a spoonie/migrainer/potsie/whatever else you want to call someone who deals with chronic health issues, it’s taken a whole lot of experimenting to know what coping mechanisms out there work best when it comes to the physical, emotional, & spiritual weight of dealing with the heavy burden of daily physical pain. Twelve years in, I’m STILL learning, but- I do…

What it Really Feels Like.
Blog. | chronic pain | Hope | My Journey | Pain Management

What it Really Feels Like.

2024 Edit of this post: Republishing the post from 2019 below, which I revisited recently while doing some blog revamping. While rereading this, I was so struck by how normal my way of operating was to me at the time…a time when I thought I was doing fairly well. Just a few months after I wrote everything below, I learned…

“Having a chronic illness has taught me there is joy in vulnerability and a beauty in sharing our suffering. It forces me, daily, to choose to believe the fact that I am loved for who I am and not what I do- that I still matter and my life still holds meaning when it constantly looks differently than I imagined it would be. It’s taught me to choose grit.”

Carrie Schuessler, APSW

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