{"id":1744,"date":"2015-07-27T08:16:38","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T08:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1744"},"modified":"2015-07-26T18:49:41","modified_gmt":"2015-07-26T18:49:41","slug":"chronic-pain-the-oasis-in-our-hearts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/07\/chronic-pain-the-oasis-in-our-hearts.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Pain: The Oasis in Our Hearts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image Courtesy of dan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the most difficult things about living with chronic pain can be finding relief. Oh, yes, we work with our doctors, physical therapists, and other medical professionals to do this. But in the day-to-day, when that sharp jab makes us gasp, or the twinges take on seeming lives of their own, we can feel quite helpless, drained.<\/p>\n

In such moments, I like to take advantage of the oasis within – the cool, calm, lushly forested place where my heartbeat takes on the rhythm of nature, unhurried but thriving. It takes conscious effort to get to this wonderful place of relaxation; envisioning the forest helps, as does making use of technology to evoke birdsong, a babbling creek, or wind whispering through treetops. \u00a0But it is possible to use these tools, or just our own power of concentration, to look beyond the discomfort we endure and through to somewhere that we can truly call a God-given oasis.<\/p>\n

The Lord will give us all we need, including a special place within to seek comfort and find renewed energy and strength. We have only to make the effort to go there to benefit from this, as with all, blessings.<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

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

One of the most difficult things about living with chronic pain can be finding relief. Oh, yes, we work with our doctors, physical therapists, and other medical professionals to do this. But in the day-to-day, when that sharp jab makes us gasp, or the twinges take on seeming lives of their own, we can feel…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43,1242,4,1047,1420,1421,1246],"tags":[44,1808,1811,1722,30,1809,1810],"class_list":["post-1744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-food-for-thought","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-good","category-pain-2","category-take-some-time-to-rest","category-uplifting","tag-chronic-pain","tag-finding-relief-from-pain","tag-god-and-our-pain","tag-help-for-pain","tag-pain","tag-rest-from-pain","tag-spirituality-and-pain"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Pain: The Oasis in Our Hearts - 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\/07\/chronic-pain-the-oasis-in-our-hearts.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Pain: The Oasis in Our Hearts - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the most difficult things about living with chronic pain can be finding relief. 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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\/1744","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=1744"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1746,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744\/revisions\/1746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}