The holidays have wrapped up, and we have entered a new year. Social media is full of people including friends and family talking about all they accomplished last year and all their resolutions for this year.

For young patients with facial pain, it may be emotional to think back on the year if it was filled with a lot of pain.

Maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed at the thought that you don’t feel you’ve accomplished as much as your friends. Perhaps you feel behind in life because of facial pain. It’s very easy for anyone to feel that they aren’t living up to what others “think” (or even say) they should be living up to. It often feels like a comparison game, and it is easy to fall into the trap of comparing our lives to others.

Social media and society have consistently taught us that we are to achieve amazing and huge strides in life, every year, enough to fill a social media post to its max character limit. Regardless of whether you have facial pain or not, that’s not always how a year goes.

We know life isn’t always about achieving and making big strides; sometimes it is just about doing your best and surviving another year.

It reminds us of the quote, “If all you did today is survive, I’m proud of you.” And that’s what we want you to know. We are immensely proud of you.

While you may not feel like you accomplished as much as you wanted to in the last year because of the impact facial pain has on your life, we know how much incredible strength you have. We see you trying day after day. We see you listening to your body and resting. We see you prioritizing your health. We know how big of an accomplishment those are. We hope you can see that too. While others may have filled their social media posts with different adventures, life changes, and exciting experiences, remember you have things you have learned and accomplished that are worthy of celebrating. Right now, we are celebrating YOU. We hope you are celebrating yourself, too.