{"id":1006,"date":"2014-01-25T00:22:02","date_gmt":"2014-01-25T00:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1006"},"modified":"2014-01-20T00:36:48","modified_gmt":"2014-01-20T00:36:48","slug":"when-you-think-youve-had-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/01\/when-you-think-youve-had-enough.html","title":{"rendered":"When you think you’ve had enough"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesy of dexchao\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There’s a curious thing that happens to many writers when they reach the middle of a particular project: They want to turn back, start a new project, or otherwise abandon their current work-in-progress because it seems to be completely fogged over, unscrutable, or unmanageable. \u00a0In short, they feel they’ve had enough of work as it is and long to switch to something else.<\/p>\n

Of course, if every writer gave into the temptation to quit mid-stream, we would have no longer works of either fiction or non-fiction. And the world would be the sadder for it in more ways than one.<\/p>\n

Dieters often hit this “enough!” point, and many people trying to throw off the yolk of addition do, too. So do people living with bouts of illness, flares that flame, or any other physical (or emotional) challenge. \u00a0At some point, usually close to the midway point, you might think you’ve had enough. Enough of the medication, treatments, pain, or inconvenience. Enough of the relying on others for your care, enough of putting the rest of your life on hold.<\/p>\n

So much of our journey with illness and pain is the struggle to give up our expectations and give in to God’s will. And so much of it, too, is understanding that each flare, each new challenge has an arc. Beginning, middle, and end. \u00a0And when I’ve faced my own, “Enough!” moment, I pray for clarity, for understanding where I’m at in terms of the particular episode and how I might deal with it so that I do not falter as I move through the moment and past it toward more relief and peace.<\/p>\n

Doctors can be helpful in explaining the trajectory of a flare or other physical challenge. Our loved ones can be splendid “fans” cheering us on and giving us the support we need.<\/p>\n

And we can help ourselves, too, by lifting up those darkest moments, asking for light, and trusting that, no matter how bad it gets, God will see us through.<\/p>\n

Blessings for the day,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There’s a curious thing that happens to many writers when they reach the middle of a particular project: They want to turn back, start a new project, or otherwise abandon their current work-in-progress because it seems to be completely fogged over, unscrutable, or unmanageable. \u00a0In short, they feel they’ve had enough of work as it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43,4],"tags":[894,491,500,893,892,19,891,30,457,144],"class_list":["post-1006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","tag-challenge","tag-despair","tag-flare","tag-getting-through-a-tough-time","tag-gods-support","tag-illness","tag-loss-of-hope","tag-pain","tag-strength","tag-support"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen you think you've had enough - 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1006"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1007,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1006\/revisions\/1007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}