Pia Hermann: I found Happiness

Dear Warrior war leaders,

My name is Pia, I'm almost 19 years old, I am from Germany and I'm on my way to find and love myself.

With my writing I want to tell other people that they are not alone with their worries and problems, no matter how small they are. That's why I want to share my story with you all.

Every challenge requires a force, and if you are not ready to give it all you’ve got, you will not progress. But I'd better start from the very beginning. Shortly before my ninth birthday (end of 2007) I came to the hospital with enormous abdominal pain, nausea and severe weight loss. For a long time no one knew what exactly I had and so I was treated with the most varied medicines to improve my health at least a little bit. Only half a year later could the doctors tell me and my family what illness I have. The diagnosis was Colitis Crohn, a chronic bowel disease in which a part of the intestine, the colon, is very swollen. From that point on, I was treated appropriately and my health could go uphill again. But a person can only get well, if he is ready to do something for it.

This one step was my personal challenge. I was nine years old and had to learn to act as an adult. I had to accept that something fundamental has changed and that I have to live with it from now on. I did not want to be ill anymore. I wanted to live carefree, and as light-hearted and jaunty as before. I wanted to fool around and be young. So I tried day after day and finally got out of my hole.

Sadly I will carry this disease with me for a lifetime. I have learned what exactly I have been living with for the last few years and have become friends with it step by step. Now you're probably wondering how to make friends with a disease, and that's basically a legitimate question. I've always been a thoroughly happy and cheerfully person and Colitis Crohn is now a part of me that I had and have learnt to accept. I also learned from it what it means to really enjoy life to the fullest. My mental state has been all over the place in these past years, in my worst times I have been depressed and in the others somewhat positive.

I have now however established what happiness means to me, and what it means to be alive at all. Because if you are not ready to perceive that you have a life that you can not repeat, which is precious and unique, then you will never reach the point where you are completely happy. But if you accept who you are and what mistakes and quirks you carry around with you, then you also learn to love and enjoy yourself and your life.

If you've once stood on the edge and you're about to give up, just because you lack the strength to keep going, then you realise that LIVING, LOVING, LAUGHING and being GRATEFUL is what makes a person special. That's why I'm grateful for having this disease. It was an enrichment. Far too many people today forget to live life and be grateful for everything they have. To live in the moment and not to think about the future or to be influenced by the past is a strength that every human being owns when he/she is ready to accept the pros and cons. It is the same with happiness. You have mistakes like any other person and it is your decision whether to let yourself go down or accept these mistakes and show strength by teaching other people that blemishes are not bad, on the contrary, they make you special and unique. You just have to let it happen and learn to love it.

I hope that my story will help other people to find and accept themselves. It is important to keep reminding yourself that you are special and that you decide for yourself HOW special you are and whether you give it away to other people or keep on clinging to the negative things.

I am a Mental Health Warrior and I have Colitis Crohn, my name is Pia and I found happiness.

My Instagram: @plantifulpia 

Lovely wishes from Germany.

Pia