It surely must depend on the chronic illness and on the personality of the sufferer, but I imagine ultimately it comes down to accepting what you can't control

It surely must depend on the chronic illness and on the personality of the sufferer, but I imagine ultimately it comes down to accepting what you can't control and making the best of what you can. I have CFS. Two people close to me have MS, and another has pretty severe UC and related autoimmune disorders. Everyone on my list seems to be bearing up pretty well, knock wood. All of us have been managing these conditions for upwards of fifteen or twenty years now. Each of us had to get used to the idea that our lives would be different from what we imagined. But each of us is still living, and still doing things that seem worthwhile to us. For all of us it seems like the hardest part was the months right after diagnosis, while we were grieving the life we thought we were going to have and getting used to the one we were apparently going to have instead. But the adjustment can be made. Some of us, at least, have made it. It helps to have friends and family that understand.