Caring, Risk, Dreaming, & Expectations

Excellence can be achieved if we care more than others think is wise, risk more than others think is safe, dream more than others think is practical, and expect more than others think is possible. ~Anon. 
I've been told this fits me to a tee, and I know for a fact it fits one of my best friends and fellow fibromites. I guess I could even argue that it probably fits most Fibro sufferers because we have to hold onto that hope, those dreams, and that determination. As I have explained, Fibro can range from being very mild - leaving the sufferer uncomfortable and maybe easily tired-, or it can be severe enough to disable the body it has a hold of. Hope and determination become part of daily life for these fibromites.
"Care more than others think is wise"....This isn't a choice really. I don't choose to care more about people I don't know or may never see again, or even those I love most. Neither do the other fibromites I personally know. It's just part of who we are. We weren't raised a particular way, and they don't infuse this into us in the hospital during one of our stays, but I think Fibro sufferers care more because we hurt more than most. We have all developed Fibro, in good probability, through some physical or emotional (or both) trauma. We have known real pain. We empathize because of it.
"Risk more than others think is safe"....The Fibro sufferers that I personally know or know of have all learned how to walk again. I had a hip replacement at 34, my best girl G was in a wheelchair after a car wreck, and others have suffered in their feet more than their shoulders. If we risk more, it's not by jumping out of perfectly good airplanes or climbing mountains, it just by putting more of ourselves out there because we believe we have less time than you do. I have told my d.h. for years that he's going to out live me, and I know...I know....it's true. I am hoping that my risks leave my legacy.
"Dream more than others think is practical"....What are practical dreams? Everyone has dreams. The richest among us still dream, as well as those that walk miles to find water. Everyone dreams, so how could anyone say that we dream more than others might deem practical? I dream about leaving a better world for my children. I dream about actually impacting social injustice. I dream about dancing again. Even you, gentle readers, have your dreams. No one else could tell you they aren't practical dreams. That would be silly.
"Expect more than others think is possible"....ah, now, we find the heart of a fibromite. We expect the impossible. We have to, because right now a cure is not possible. So, we hope...we expect that medical science will complete an impossible task. Cure AIDS, cure cancer, help Fibro, these are not as impossible as you might think.
So, my gentle reader, is this caring, these dreams, these expectations, and even these risks found in you? Are you really so different from me if they are? The "others" this speaks of may only be those that squash their hopes and dreams down with practicality, but trust me. In the dark of the night, in their unconscious dreaming...they still live. These hopes, these risks...they still breathe.