What might be the gift in a chronically challenging situation I am facing?

The answer for me is in the question. If the situation is chronic, of course it’s challenging and fighting, fleeing or freezing in place does not solve anything. But facing, feeling, grieving if required, helps. An understanding that acceptance is giving in not giving up is gift. My chronically challenging situation has limited the use of so many of my talents but has gifted me with a new understanding of what really matters. In many ways, I’m living more fully than I ever have before. I was a singer and a neck surgery in 1998 robbed me of a good part of my vocal range. I could no longer form the pitches so I sang in lower keys. More recent health issues have impacted my ability to use my diaphragm effectively so I cannot project my voice and can no longer participate in live theatre productions. Another issue causes me to cough when I do try to project vocally. In 2015, I wrote the following poem (It too is a gift that allowed me to feel and grieve my loss). I share it below:

Lament of Loss by Carol Ann Conner

Some of us have a booming voice.
Others speak with a lilt.
A few are given the gift
of song, but the day comes
when it is gone.

When this happened to me
It is like being violently stripped,
ripped from my very being
at the altar
of wasted chances.

Love always sang to me
through me,
filling my aching heart
so many times when hope
could not be found.

The laughter, the tears,
the promise, the fears,
The total vulnerability
That resonated
in each tone.

Images of audiences
that still thrill me,
still inspire me
and fill me
with awe and gratitude.

No longer the singer
of the song,
No longer the voice
that’s forever gone
but the music lives on, and on.