{"id":1666,"date":"2015-05-19T22:00:42","date_gmt":"2015-05-19T22:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1666"},"modified":"2015-05-19T22:00:42","modified_gmt":"2015-05-19T22:00:42","slug":"tlc-tuesday-accept-no-substitutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/tlc-tuesday-accept-no-substitutes.html","title":{"rendered":"TLC Tuesday: Accept No Substitutes!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Maureen<\/a>“I’ll go to the gym instead of taking a nap – I’ll feel more energy afterward.”<\/p>\n

“I’ll get this report done before I call a friend; I’ll have time later.”<\/p>\n

“I take this easier class instead of the hard one; I’ll get less credit, but I won’t have to work as much.”<\/p>\n

Each day, we make decisions to substitute one activity for another – and often, we put off the more important one, or at least the more loving one, and substitute it with something that\u00a0seems<\/em> better…maybe.<\/p>\n

Once in awhile, this might make sense – work, exercise, balance, each of these and other things are important, too. But sometimes, we opt for the obvious when, if we stretched ourselves a little more, or took a bit more time to consider, we’d decide differently – accepting no substitutes for excellence in our actions.<\/p>\n

Today, think about the things you could do to take better care of yourself, your relationships, you job, your well-being. Accept no substitutes for excellence – and go farther than you ever thought possible!<\/p>\n

Joys,<\/p>\n

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

“I’ll go to the gym instead of taking a nap – I’ll feel more energy afterward.” “I’ll get this report done before I call a friend; I’ll have time later.” “I take this easier class instead of the hard one; I’ll get less credit, but I won’t have to work as much.” Each day, we…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[360,43,1242,4,1047,578,1245,1421,1246],"tags":[1718,1719,1717,1716,1693,1182],"class_list":["post-1666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-determination","category-encouragement-in-life","category-food-for-thought","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-good","category-goodness","category-positive","category-take-some-time-to-rest","category-uplifting","tag-deciding-on-whats-best","tag-growing-relationships","tag-making-decisions","tag-stretching-our-capabilities","tag-taking-care-of-ourselves","tag-tlc-tuesday"],"yoast_head":"\nTLC Tuesday: Accept No Substitutes! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/tlc-tuesday-accept-no-substitutes.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TLC Tuesday: Accept No Substitutes! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“I’ll go to the gym instead of taking a nap – I’ll feel more energy afterward.” “I’ll get this report done before I call a friend; I’ll have time later.” “I take this easier class instead of the hard one; I’ll get less credit, but I won’t have to work as much.” Each day, we…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/tlc-tuesday-accept-no-substitutes.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-19T22:00:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/01\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic2-246x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TLC Tuesday: Accept No Substitutes! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/tlc-tuesday-accept-no-substitutes.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TLC Tuesday: Accept No Substitutes! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"“I’ll go to the gym instead of taking a nap – I’ll feel more energy afterward.” “I’ll get this report done before I call a friend; I’ll have time later.” “I take this easier class instead of the hard one; I’ll get less credit, but I won’t have to work as much.” Each day, we…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/tlc-tuesday-accept-no-substitutes.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2015-05-19T22:00:42+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/01\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic2-246x300.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/tlc-tuesday-accept-no-substitutes.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/tlc-tuesday-accept-no-substitutes.html","name":"TLC Tuesday: Accept No Substitutes! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/tlc-tuesday-accept-no-substitutes.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/tlc-tuesday-accept-no-substitutes.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/01\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic2-246x300.jpg","datePublished":"2015-05-19T22:00:42+00:00","dateModified":"2015-05-19T22:00:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/tlc-tuesday-accept-no-substitutes.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/tlc-tuesday-accept-no-substitutes.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/tlc-tuesday-accept-no-substitutes.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/01\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic2-246x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/01\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic2-246x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/05\/tlc-tuesday-accept-no-substitutes.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TLC Tuesday: Accept No Substitutes!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/","name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32","name":"mpratt","description":"Several years ago, Maureen Pratt earned her Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts\/Playwriting from UCLA's School of Theater, FIlm and Television. 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\/1666","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=1666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1667,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1666\/revisions\/1667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}