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Thursday 19th February 2026 - Quirks and Uniqueness

Here's the alt text: **Alt text:** *A Mål Paper Affirmation Deck box sits open on a soft cream fluffy blanket. The card on top reads "I accept all of my quirks and uniqueness" in elegant italic script. The black box lid shows the deck title and the words "52 affirmation cards to help practice self-care and mindfulness."*

'I accept all of my quirks and uniqueness.'

I pulled this affirmation card at random yesterday when I was feeling pretty rubbish, half expecting something generic that I'd nod at politely and put down. But this one's stuck around in my head, and I think I need to write about it. That's the point of journaling, isn't it? Working out what's rattling around up there.

So. My quirks and uniqueness.

Where do we even start? 😂

I've spent most of my life being described as "a bit much." Witchy. Quirky. Unusual. (I literally put those words in a job application once, with pride, which probably tells you everything you need to know about me.) I've never really done things the expected way, never quite fitted the mould people seemed to have in mind for me.

And then FND and ME/CFC arrived and redistributed all my quirks into a body and brain that work in ways I absolutely did not choose and still don't fully understand. A wheelchair. Limbs that occasionally forget whose side they're on. A brain that fogs over at inconvenient moments. Seizures. Fatigue that sits on your chest like something's parked there.

If I'm honest — and the whole point of this journal is honesty — I've spent a lot of time since September 2024 feeling like my quirks and uniqueness got stolen. Like the illness took the interesting, colourful, festival-going, yoga-doing, creative version of me and replaced her with someone I don't always recognise.

But that's not quite right, is it?

Because here I am. Still opinionated. Still spiritual. Still making terrible jokes at inappropriate moments. Still deeply, embarrassingly moved by live music and good theatre and cats sitting on me when I need it most. Still caring far too much about people, community, and doing things properly. Still me, just... navigating differently now.

The card doesn't say, 'I accept all of my quirks and uniqueness when I'm having a good day, and everything is manageable.' It says I accept all of them. The wheelchair. The fog. The Ellylons are doing whatever they like. The 5am wake-ups that nobody asked for. The limbs have their own agenda. The fact that I cried yesterday over something small because I was exhausted and in pain, and that's just where I was.

All of it. Accepted.

I'm not there yet, fully. I won't pretend I am. Some days acceptance feels like giving up, and I have to remind myself it absolutely isn't — it's actually the braver thing. It's saying: this is where I am right now, and I'm not going to spend my energy fighting the reality of it when I could spend that energy on something that actually helps.

So for today, I accept my quirks and my uniqueness. All the old ones, and all the new ones, this illness has added to the collection whether I wanted them or not.

And I'll open the box again tomorrow.

Maybe. 😌

Three good things today 🌟

  • I opened my affirmation box for the first time since I got ill. That's bigger than it sounds. 📝
  • Paul brought me breakfast without being asked. He knows. I'll keep him. 💜
  • The sun came through the window just for a minute at just the right angle this afternoon and landed on Myka, who was completely unbothered by it in the way that only cats can be. It made me smile. Sometimes that's genuinely enough. 🐱☀️

Namaste 🙏

Love Sha 💜

#WheelyHappyDays #Journaling #Affirmations #FND #ChronicIllness #SpoonieLife #Acceptance #Mindfulness #WellbeingWarrior #KOKO #YouAreEnough #ChronicPain #InvisibleIllness #MentalHealthMatters #Fibromyalgia #MECFS #SelfAcceptance #ThisIsMe #QuirkyAndProud 💜