Labels are interesting, aren’t they? Ponder for a moment the word tree. What comes to mind? 

Is the first thing that comes to mind a very literal interpretation of the label or is your definition more metaphorical? As you ponder this label, what do you realise? I realise the vast number of species, how stoic they are and how they represent a steadfastness, beauty all their own and that they would exist without their name. They would still stand tall.

Labels and names have power, in a human life they can have negative power. Such power in fact that any given label has power to change who we are, who we could be and the very course of our entire life.

Resisting to conform to a label that has been placed on us and forging to do more than the restrictions of that label, enable us to be who God made us to be. Fully.

I was given a label at 28. I was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Debilitating pain, strange fatigue so heavy I could barely breathe. At 33 I was then diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis. My doctor was accurate at labelling me. These ARE accurate labels, fitting for what is going on inside my body. The important aspect to note here was MY response to this label. 

Response option 1) Weak. Sickly. Depressed. Hopeless.

Response option 2) Fearless. Trusting. Optimistic. Striving. Hopeful.

I chose option 2, not ignoring what I had been told, respecting that news about an aspect of my person…but not allowing it to consume and rename the whole definition of me. 

How:

• I chose to fight the naysayers. People commented I shouldn’t have children because of Lupus – I chose to IGNORE that negative response to my label; listening only to my doctors. Remember humans cannot define us. Only God has that power.
• I believed I would overcome it. With patience as my partner in crime and remembering to be joyful in all seasons of life; I took the trials as gifts of endurance (Rom 5:3-5). 
• I changed my diet. I went on an anti-inflammatory diet.
• I worked out through the pain. Despite the labels I knew physical strength would be my best friend.
• I improved, I pressed on.
• I prayed, meditated on God’s word and journaled.
• I trusted God’s plan for my life with abundant hope.
• I embraced my new life with little complaint. Despite the chapter of my career being over as a Marketer and PR professional due to being placed on disability – I embraced the path God gave me. Fully. Wholly. Finding the joy and incredible moments in my new life.

Choose to look at your life as an exciting adventure, filled with unexpected twists and turns. Don’t be held back by labels. Find a new way around them, through them, over them. Get creative. Smile through the pain. Stay patient. Stay hopeful. Listen to that voice inside with a burning desire for more. Stand tall, rooted down in truth and flourish from the seeds of the knowledge of how infinite and complex your design is. You are more than skin and bones. Transcend the trap of your label. Believe there is always more, spiritually and physically.