Navigating the Storms Is Here for You, the Hurting and the Caring

Strug-gle (intransitive verb)

1. Try to overcome problem: to make a great effort to deal with a challenge, problem, or difficulty
2. Make great physical effort: to make a great physical effort to achieve or obtain something

Reality for millions

Daily struggles — a reality of life for millions of people (see Quiz for statistics) who live with invisible disabilities. Some of us struggle with fatigue, pain and weakness; others struggle with hearing or eyesight losses; still others struggle with internal organ dysfunctions.

Any of these conditions, as well as many others, make it difficult to socialize, causing isolation. Out of this aloneness was borne the idea for this website. Navigating the Storms gives you the ability to connect with others, hear their stories, share their laughter, and help lessen their pain.

Which are you?

Are you one of the hurting, struggling with pain, disability, difficult life situations? Feeling alone? Need to know someone is listening?

Or do you belong to the caring, and you’d like to be encouraging and strengthening? Or would you just like to learn more about us?

So …

If you’re in either group, our dream is that you will participate in this website creating community for us all. And that you will team up with another so that we can all fly further and faster. Of course, these two groups are not mutually exclusive. The hurting can also care; the caring can also hurt; we can encourage each other.

We’re here to help

This website offers helps and tips for whichever group you’re in. It seeks to encourage those who hurt and to educate others about the challenges the hurting face.

What you’ll find in Navigating the Storms

• Those with invisible disabilities — those who dwell in storms (dwellers), will find a section with basic information and helps and the encouragement of seeing how others navigate.
• For the compassionate ones — those looking on (observers), you have a section, too, with education, tips, and real-life examples.
• For everyone, there’s a section about spiritual questions.
• We’re a feeder site where you will find links to other resources.
• Navigating the Storms is designed to be interactive with quizzes, surveys (future), forums, comments, and contacts.
• We will add info and features as time and energy allow.

In closing …

The hurting need encouragement, compassion, and tips for living. (Other help is beyond the scope of this site.) The caring need someone to care for. Navigating the Storms offers ideas for helping and examples of people who have helped. Our vision is that we (the hurting and the caring) will form e-relationships through the interactive features of this website. Contact us for an individual response. Take a quiz.

We hope that you who care about others will look around you and see the invisibly disabled; they are called “invisible” because their difficulties can be hard to see. Look closely, identify them, and see if they have needs you can help meet.