You know, I'm not a big fan of comparing degree of suffering - it invalidates your feelings. Within the context of your life, your experience and your feelings about it are completely valid, as are mine, yet, compared to a child starving to death in Darfur, I'm doing just fine. But that doesn't negate the fact that some days are really hard and much harder than they used to be or the fact that you have experienced real loss of ability and are therefore experiencing real feelings of grief.   The good thing about having lived with RA for over four decades is that it gives you perspective. RA comes and goes, it ebbs and flows and there are good times and sometimes bad, but throughout it all, life still happens and you live it. Hopefully most of the time, good medication will help you live your life with your RA muttering in the background.   Although I'm not a big fan of comparing "degrees of suffering", I am a big fan of shooting for the moon. I think it helped that my parents always expected that I would do my best, while still accommodating my disease. It meant that I went to university (I have a Masters degree in social work), I've worked in corrections and human rights and I am now pursuing my lifelong dream of being a writer - one of things I do is work as Community Leader for this site. I'm going to give you another few links - first to a post about working with RA that has links to resources about accommodation. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, you are entitled to be accommodated in your job (e.g. by different ways of doing your job, flexible work hours, working from home, etc.) and that could be a great help to people with RA. Also check out my interview with Gayle Backstrom, author of I'd Rather Be Working - it's a terrific book about working when you have a chronic illness that includes a very interesting process called "Rethink, Refocus, Retrain" that can help you figure out where you want to go next in your career. You may also want to check out the post I wrote on going back to school, which also includes information about the accommodations you are entitled to within the educational system (e.g., longer time for exams, extended time to do your degree) that can make it easier for you to complete a degree. And lastly, check out my recent post about expectations and shooting for the moon. It may take you longer to get there, you may not go in a straight line or do it the same way as other people, but achieving and fulfilling dreams is definitely possible.