Standing up when standing is the hardest thing

POTS means my heart races and my blood pressure drops every time I stand. Some days getting vertical is the whole project. People see me sitting and assume I'm lazy. They don't see the war happening between my nervous system and gravity. I started walking one block at a time. Then two. Some days I can't. Those days count too — that's the thing I want people to understand. Progress with a chronic condition isn't a line going up. It's a stubborn refusal to disappear. From hidden to here means I show up on the days I can, and I forgive myself on the days I can't. Both are strength.