{"id":1315,"date":"2014-08-18T01:13:25","date_gmt":"2014-08-18T01:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1315"},"modified":"2014-08-03T19:24:26","modified_gmt":"2014-08-03T19:24:26","slug":"chronic-illness-forming-our-destinies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/08\/chronic-illness-forming-our-destinies.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic illness: Forming our destinies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Maureen<\/a>One of my favorite subjects was and still is history. I think we can learn a lot about our todays and our futures by learning from the past. For example – think about how hard life was in the 18th and 19th centuries, how undeveloped medical science was and how short “average” lifespans were. Yet, think, too, about how much so many people accomplished!<\/p>\n

Amazing! What was their secret? What can we learn from them and apply to us today?<\/p>\n

One of the figures I admire greatly in American history is Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison. And, she has a quote that resonates to us today, especially those of us living with chronic illness. She said, “There is one secret, and that is the power we all have in forming our own destinies.” (www.firstladies.org)<\/p>\n

Notice she didn’t say, “making our own destinies.” Rather, she used the word “forming,” which has a whole other sort of meaning, especially for people of faith.<\/p>\n

Forming our destinies includes praying over our purpose, approaching life with positive thoughts and much goodness. Forming our destinies is the color we give to our days and nights with illness – bright and hopeful or dark and dismal.<\/p>\n

We form our destinies by doing all we can to make our lives as health-full as we can.<\/p>\n

We form our destinies, our lives, with faith and understanding that, as we form our attitudes, God makes our way.<\/p>\n

Another important word in Dolley’s quote is “power.” So often, when we live with illness and pain, we feel powerless. And, in truth, many times there’s nothing we can do to change our health situation.<\/p>\n

But we do have the power to form our attitudes, to cling to God and stay with Him in prayer. Yes, that power we have – and are able to use.<\/p>\n

Thanks, Dolley!<\/p>\n

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

One of my favorite subjects was and still is history. I think we can learn a lot about our todays and our futures by learning from the past. For example – think about how hard life was in the 18th and 19th centuries, how undeveloped medical science was and how short “average” lifespans were. 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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\/1315","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=1315"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1316,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315\/revisions\/1316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}