Everything happens for a reason. That’s something I try to tell myself often, even when it gets tough. However, it’s hard to think so when it comes to the questions that I ask myself; such as: “Why do I have TS? Why doesn’t anyone I know have it, but I do?” Yesterday at night, after I finished writing, I accidentally send an audio imessage to my friend Ray*. It was an audio of me, after a long day, releasing my vocal and motor tics. As soon as I realized what I had sent, I was more than mortified. Of course, Ray* and my friends all know I have Tourette Syndrome. They are supportive and look beyond my tics. That didn’t stop me from feeling embarrassed and ashamed of my TS as I realized what had happened. I texted my friend Ellen*, telling her how stupid I felt and how I hated myself. My friend, being the sweetest person ever, responded by saying: “you shouldn’t hate things that you can’t change about yourself. And honestly who cares I mean I certainly don’t. Okay you need to love yourself.” Then I received a text from Ray* saying that it’s okay, and that he punches things when he gets mad, too. That made me laugh. Apart from the thoughtfulness and understanding my friends provided me with, this small incident was not small for me at all. It proved to me that all things really do happen for a reason, and that good always comes after/with the bad.
(* Not their real names)
