Identity

We create an identity by what we do for a living, who are friends are, how we are valuable to other people, what we are good at, the clothes we wear, amongst other identifiers. So when all of that is taken away, who are we? Imagine you are an athlete who can't play anymore. A nurse who can't heal anymore. A go getter who can't "go" anymore. This is what happens to Lyme patients. All identifiers are stripped away. Someone might find their identity in being a great Mom, or a supportive spouse. Lyme takes that away too, as patients lose their ability to function and engage with the world. The patient is a shell of their former self, no identifiers to identify them as anything other than "sick."

When all external identifiers are stripped away, one learns that what is left is a human being and that it is enough. You are more than your job, the role(s) you play with everyone in your life, or what you are good at. The lives we build are an external framework of our own doing but what endures is our soul. When all the superficial is stripped away, what is left is our truest essence and we learn that it is all we have ever needed.