When Your Body Has Other Plans
by Beamlak Alebel (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
This personal essay is a special article from one of CCYAN’s 2025 Fellows, Beamlak Alebel:
"Tomorrow, I will do this and that. I will finish my tasks, meet my friends, work on my goals, and finally get everything done." How often do we make plans with excitement, believing that tomorrow will go exactly as we imagined? But when you live with a chronic illness like IBD, tomorrow can be unpredictable, and even the simplest plans can suddenly change.
Living with IBD has taught me that unpredictability is not only about flare-ups. Sometimes, I wake up feeling ready to take on the day, only to experience unexpected fatigue, medication side effects, or an infection due to a suppressed immune system. Suddenly, the plans I made the night before no longer seem possible. Something I was looking forward to may have to be postponed or cancelled, not because I lack motivation, but because my health needs attention.
There are days when I plan to accomplish so many things, only to find myself resting instead. At first, accepting these changes can be frustrating. It is difficult to make plans when you do not know how your body will feel the next day. Chronic illness can make even the most ordinary routines feel uncertain, and being determined to follow a schedule can sometimes become unrealistic.
Over time, I have learned that being determined does not mean forcing myself to follow every plan. It also means knowing when to pause, listen to my body, and allow myself to adjust. I still make plans, set goals, and look forward to tomorrow, but I no longer see a cancelled plan as a failure. I am learning to accept that changing my plans does not mean giving up on my dreams.
Living with IBD has taught me to be flexible, patient, and kinder to myself. I may not be able to control every unexpected change in my health, but I can learn to adapt without losing sight of my future.
Sometimes, the strength to keep moving forward is not about sticking to the plan, but about being willing to change it when life takes an unexpected turn.
