I had COVID in the very beginning. I have had Long COVID for years. I am no longer referring to myself as "sick" but as having "disabilities". The change in mindset has helped me to have positive days. I still hurt, I still fall, I still struggle to eat, etc. Yesterday, I made bread in a bread machine. My house smelled good and when all else fails I can eat a small piece of bread. The first thing I keep telling myself is that I am happy I am alive. I am finding simpler things that make me happy. I am no longer worried about what I eat but that I can eat something and sometimes even enjoy it. Of all the cruel ironies, I have a hate relationship with food and barely eat but am now the heaviest I have ever been. I have finally started asking myself is it to better to be thin and fit or to be alive. The alive thing keeps working for me. I have a grandson, I want to be a part of his life even if it is not the way it was before. Who thought at 53 my 6 year old grandson would be watching me like a hawk to make sure I don't fall and thinking of very good ideas of how he can play and I can participate for as long as possible. I had a really, really, really hard time getting to this point. I wish everyone well with finding their path to as good a mental state as they can find. This is a very nasty outcome from having COVID. With that said I am a survivor and to survive I had to stop thinking of who I was but who I am now and trying to be the best new me I can be. I also find it helps to take things one day at a time when my body is feels its most beaten and battered. For reference -Pre - COVID I craved and ate healthy food, I walked miles and miles, I played with my grandson, I went 90 miles an hour at work and with the rest of my life. My new life is very different but I am alive and surviving day by day. Find things that make you smile, listen to happy music, anything to help uplift you. My happy outlook at life is new too! I was drowning in symptoms, anxiety and depression. I hear everyone whose post I read and I do know how hard this is. I am praying for all of us!