How To Live with Uncertainty and Find Hope in the Midst of Chronic Illness with Marisa Renee Lee

The One You Feed | Personal Growth, Emotional Resilience & Purpose

Eric Zimmer, The One You Feed

Buddhism, Mental Health, Education, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness, Religion & Spirituality

4.5 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 14 April 2026

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Marisa Renee Lee discusses how to live with uncertainty and find hope in the midst of chronic illness. Marissa shares her personal journey through long Covid, family loss, and prolonged uncertainty, exploring themes of hope, emotional endurance, and identity versus essence. She discusses moving from denial to acceptance, managing chronic pain, and the importance of community support. Drawing on her own experiences and her mother's illness, Marissa offers practical wisdom on asking for help, staying grounded in core values, and choosing love as a guiding principle through life's hardest seasons. Exciting News!! My new book, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠How a Little Becomes a Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life, is now available!!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Key Takeaways: Living with uncertainty and its emotional, physical, and mental challenges. Personal experiences with long Covid and its impact on daily life. The concept of hope as a practice rather than blind optimism. The importance of identity versus essence in coping with illness. Strategies for managing pain and emotional endurance. The role of community and compassion in navigating difficult times. The significance of asking for help and overcoming individualism. The process of moving from denial to acceptance in the face of adversity. The distinction between pain and suffering, and how to manage both. The necessity of celebrating small wins and maintaining perspective during challenging periods. For full show notes:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here⁠⁠⁠!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you enjoyed this conversation with Marisa Renee Lee, check out these other episodes: How to Find Joy and Healing While Living with Chronic Illness with Meghan O’Rourke Living with Chronic Illness with Toni Bernhard By purchasing products and/or services from our sponsors, you are helping to support The One You Feed, and we greatly appreciate it. Thank you! This episode is sponsored by: Brodo Broth: Shop the best broth on the planet with Brodo. Head to Brodo.com/TOYF for 20% off your first subscription order and use code TOYF for an additional $10 off. Quince: Refresh your wardrobe with Quince by going to Quince.com/feed for free shipping and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too. Rocket Money Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at rocketmoney.com/feed. Pebl – an AI-powered platform that helps companies hire and manage global teams in 185+ countries. Get a free estimate at hipebl.ai Hello Fresh – Get 10 free meals + a FREE Zwilling Knife (a $144.99 value) on your third box. Offer valid while supplies last. David Protein bars deliver up to 28g of protein for just 150 calories—without sacrificing taste! For a limited time, our listeners can receive this special deal: buy 4 cartons and get the 5th free when you go to www.davidprotein.com/FEED Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I don't know that we ever reach a point in life where it's like, okay, I'm healed, period,
0:06.7	all good, see you guys later. I think it's more like the guy or girl who played sports in
0:14.3	high school and, you know, got the bad knee injury. And when it rains, even though they're 50,
0:19.2	like the knee still feels a little funny. Like,
0:21.4	I think that's what it is with the emotional stuff. And so if you can think about it like that,
0:26.4	it makes it a little bit easier to see it coming because it's coming.
0:37.1	Welcome to the one you feed.
0:39.3	Throughout time, great thinkers have recognized the importance of the thoughts we have.
0:43.3	Quotes like, garbage in, garbage out, or you are what you think, ring true.
0:49.3	And yet, for many of us, our thoughts don't strengthen or empower us.
0:53.3	We tend toward negativity,
0:55.5	self-pity, jealousy, or fear. We see what we don't have instead of what we do. We think
1:01.7	things that hold us back and dampen our spirit. But it's not just about thinking. Our actions matter.
1:08.3	It takes conscious, consistent, and creative effort to make a life worth living.
1:13.1	This podcast is about how other people keep themselves moving in the right direction, how they feed their good wolf.
1:21.6	Most of us can tolerate a lot if we believe it's going to end soon.
1:26.9	But some of the hardest seasons in life are the ones
1:30.2	that don't come with a clear diagnosis, a clean timeline, or any real sense of when things
1:37.1	might get better. In this conversation, Marissa Renee Lee and I talk about what it means to live
1:43.5	inside uncertainty without letting it swallow you. I talk about what it means to live inside uncertainty without letting it
1:46.1	swallow you. We talk about illness, grief, pain, and the emotional toll of not knowing what comes next.
1:54.3	But we also talk about hope, not as blind optimism, but as a practice, as something you choose and build, even when life
	...

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