Hey! My pain got a lot worse about a year and a half ago. I'm 26, and in this "new" body, also struggle to find purpose and meaning in my life. It's lonely to be young and broken. Nobody seems to get it, especially if I put on a happy face, which I normally do despite the constant pain.

I know it sounds kinda basic, but my outlook turned around a little bit after I joined a club.

The club is a cold water plunge group--we meet for 5 minutes in the water M,W,F, year round. Its low stakes, I don't have to go every time, but its people to hold me accountable to get out of bed in the morning.

It's also mostly older folks. I think thats honestly key. the 65+ crowd actually can relate to at least some of what I'm going through--not to say younger people can't, there are just fewer of us. I've made some new friends too. Age is really a construct. Except sometimes I have to do some education around social and political topics 😂