{"id":1397,"date":"2014-10-16T18:59:57","date_gmt":"2014-10-16T18:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1397"},"modified":"2014-10-12T19:39:49","modified_gmt":"2014-10-12T19:39:49","slug":"chronic-illness-and-pain-the-gift-of-planning-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2014\/10\/chronic-illness-and-pain-the-gift-of-planning-ahead.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness and Pain: The Gift of Planning Ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Maureen<\/a>Next year’s birthday cards – done!<\/p>\n

This year’s holiday gifts – done!<\/p>\n

Yummy chicken soup prepared and in the freezer ahead of cold and flu season – done!<\/p>\n

I’ve often written about how hard it is to make firm commitments to things in the future. Chronic illness and pain have a way of interfering with even the most mundane of plans, and I even have to caution my doctors that, if I’m suddenly sick or in a flare, I probably won’t be able to keep my appointments with them, let alone do anything else.<\/p>\n

But there’s another kind of planning ahead that we can avail ourselves of – and save ourselves a great deal of stress. That planning is looking – and acting – ahead of events we know will come in the weeks, months, and year to yet unfold.<\/p>\n

With a little forethought, we can have a file with birthday, anniversary, and even bereavement cards ready and addressed so that all we have to do is sign them with a personal note and mail them when the time comes.<\/p>\n

A corner of a closet is a perfect place to stash gifts, purchased or made throughout the year. On good days, you can wrap them and label them, so that all you have to do is present the presents when Christmas, Hannukah, or another holiday arrives.<\/p>\n

I make great use of my slow cooker, especially when the weather begins to get a little cool. I store meals in reheatable\/freezalbe containers so that on those very “bad” days, I have healthful meals and very easy preparation.<\/p>\n

All of these things and others relieve us of stress and make it easier for us to participate in others’ happiness (those presents and cards) and live realatively “normally,” even when we don’t feel like doing much of anything at all (those frozen and ready meals).<\/p>\n

You can probably think of many more things you can do ahead of time – feel free to share them! And breathe a little easier as you accomplish some thing ahead so you don’t feel like illness and pain cause you to be always behind!<\/p>\n

Joy and peace,<\/p>\n

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

Next year’s birthday cards – done! This year’s holiday gifts – done! Yummy chicken soup prepared and in the freezer ahead of cold and flu season – done! I’ve often written about how hard it is to make firm commitments to things in the future. 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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\/1397","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=1397"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1398,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1397\/revisions\/1398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}