30/08/2026
💜 TODAY IS MY NAME DAY — JOLANTA’S NAME DAY.
And today I want to say THANK YOU.
Not only for the congratulations, flowers, messages, and kind words.
I want to thank every person who, even for a short while, has been part of my journey through life.
Life has been a very serious school for me — especially over the past 11 years, living and fighting with Fibromyalgia, IBS, and T-LGL Leukemia.
It has taught me that we cannot control everything. None of us can. At any moment, God can place challenges in our path.
Not everything can be changed in a single day.
Not every pain can be seen or truly understood by others.
And not every battle has to be fought out loud.
Illness has taught me one of the hardest lessons of all — acceptance.
Acceptance does not mean giving up.
Acceptance means looking at your life exactly as it is right now and being able to tell yourself:
“Yes. This is where I am today. But I am still living. I am still learning. I am still loving. I am still moving forward.”
There have been days when my body has forced me to stop.
Many times I have screamed and cried into my pillow because of the pain — and then somehow I pull myself together again. 🙏
Because I believe in myself.
There have been nights when pain would not let me sleep.
There have been moments when I have had to reassess the people around me, my relationships, my priorities, and even myself.
But it was during the hardest periods of my life that I truly understood just how valuable human kindness is.
Love that you do not have to beg for.
Respect that you do not have to prove you deserve.
Friendship that does not disappear when life becomes difficult.
Support that sometimes comes in just one simple sentence:
“I’m here.”
As the years go by, I value big words less and people’s actions more.
Who stays beside you when you are not strong.
Who genuinely celebrates your success without jealousy.
Who never uses your weaknesses against you.
Who can still respect you even when they see things differently.
Who does not come into your life only when they need something from you.
That is my school of life.
And perhaps one of its greatest lessons is learning to treat myself with the same love and respect that I so often give to others.
Today, on my Name Day, I do not wish for a perfect life.
I wish myself the strength to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
I wish to keep my heart alive.
Not to let pain make me cold.
Not to let disappointment take away my faith in people.
Not to let illness become my entire identity.
Because I am so much more than my diagnoses, my pain, and the difficult chapters of my life.
I am a woman who still dreams.
Who loves.
Who makes mistakes.
Who learns.
Who gets back up.
Who continues to build her life.
And to every person who, along this journey, has given me even a small drop of love, respect, friendship, support, or simply a kind word —
THANK YOU. 🤍🙏🫂
Sometimes we do not even realise how much one phone call, one message, one hug, or simply being present can mean to another person.
So today, on my Name Day, I also want to remind you:
💜 Love the people who are dear to you while they are still beside you.
Say the kind words now.
Respect. Support. Forgive. Hug.
Life is too short to postpone love until later.
And I will continue learning in my school of life.
With everything it gives me.
With everything it takes from me.
With pain and joy.
With falls and victories.
And with gratitude to God for one more day in which I have the opportunity to live, to love, and to leave something good behind me. 🙏💜
Happy Name Day to all of us Jolantas! 🌸
With love, Jolanta Priede 💜