I'm an optimistic person. I hope this makes sense, it does to me! Lol I have lived with so much negative in my life on top of being poz. I don't let past relationships, family, church, or any of that negative energy into my life anymore. I spent years basically begging for acceptance and love from my family, only to be rejected and told I was no longer part of the family all because of being gay. One day I said,"enough!" I let family go, I let church go, that was the main thing for me. I was raised in a cult worse than these Evangelicals! Now I'm thankful for the peace of mind that I have. I please no one but myself! After I let go of all that weight, I have now gotten to the place where I am happy and in love with myself. (Not conceded) I believe that's a big help to doing well with hiv treatment. I live as stress free as possible, and I'm going on my 3rd year of quitting smoking. So now every month I treat myself to something that I like and want instead of just wanting, but don't have money because of having to buy cigarettes! HIV doesn't define me, I define it!

I guess this really depends on the situation.... I mean in general I try to keep an optimistic approach and outlook on things while trying to maintain a realistic viewpoint as well.

I remember when I was in my early 20’s and going to college, I was broke as hell and had an old pair of shoes, they both had a hole on the bottom.

When it rained it was horrible. I use to complain to a friend of mine but he shut me up. He said, “you know Sam there was this guy that complained because he had no shoes until he saw a guy with no feet.”

So I have this bug, it’s a hurdle. But it could be worse. In the early days they only had AZT people were still dying. Now we can live just about a normal life span.

Good health to you my friend.

@A myHIVteam Member thank you for all of that relatable content. You are a special type of survivor!!!

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