The Easter Eggs of Macular Degeneration

Spring is here and Easter is on the way... but those aren’t the Easter eggs I’ll be writing about in this article.

Easter eggs

There is another type of Easter egg defined as an unexpected or undocumented surprise feature of something. I first heard about this type of Easter egg when learning that Jeeps have them. I’m not a Jeep owner (yet), but apparently, when I get one, it’ll come with a hidden symbol somewhere on it!

Easter eggs in other things

My children told me that there are Easter eggs in the video games they play too. This is how I realized there are many hidden aspects, or Easter eggs, of macular degeneration as well.

So many times, when reading about macular degeneration, we read things that are difficult to process. Information about this disease can feel heavy and scary at times. Because of this, I want to focus this article on the many positives that accompany macular degeneration but are not always easy to see. We might say they’re hidden, like Easter eggs.

The joys

When you open the ‘hidden joy’ Easter eggs of macular degeneration you’ll find gratitude, permission to live your best life, the gift of knowledge, and acceptance.

Over time, those of us with vision loss learn how to be grateful for all of the things we DO have in our lives. We find ourselves becoming inspired to do all of the things we ever wanted to do while our eyes are seeing at their best. And, we find strength in simply knowing the cause of our vision loss. Acceptance and making a plan to move forward allows for healing and joy.

The health benefits

When you open the hidden ‘health benefits’ Easter eggs of macular degeneration you’ll find improved physical and mental health. After we are diagnosed with macular degeneration, we begin to make lifestyle improvements. We exercise more, eat healthier foods, and never leave the house without our sunglasses. Our physical health has never been better and that is something to celebrate!

Not only do we feel healthy and strong, physically, we start to care for our mental and emotional health as well. We realize that a diagnosis of macular degeneration can bring some pretty difficult to process emotions. It may feel a little uncomfortable at first, but when we commit to working on our overall health, we start to heal things we didn’t even know needed healing. We are able to really let joy and serenity in, and we begin to heal.

The friendships

When you open the ‘hidden friendships’ Easter eggs of macular degeneration, you find solace in finding new friends who are experiencing hardships similar to yours. You realize you’re never alone in this, we are always there to help support and guide you at MacularDegenration.net. Our community provides a soft place to land on our hardest days and lifts us up with knowledge and understanding.

This diagnosis helps us realize the importance of our doctors and healthcare workers. Without them, we might lose our vision more rapidly. We appreciate their expertise and skill and feel safer because we have them walking this journey beside us.

The superpowers

When you open the ‘hidden superpowers’ Easter eggs of macular degeneration, you find out just how brave and strong you are. We naturally become more flexible and innovative, adapting to whatever life throws at us with grace. We learn the importance of accepting the things we can’t change and begin to conquer our fears. Keep on smashing those life goals in spite of the challenges low vision brings. You’re a super powerful human being!

Positivity

There is so much hidden positivity surrounding a diagnosis of macular degeneration. We just have to know where to look. I’m encouraging you all to run as fast as you can toward the Easter eggs of macular degeneration! Pretend you’re a young child running for those candy-filled eggs on Easter morning. Grab them all! Don’t stop until your basket (and your heart) are completely full.

Andrea Junge