{"id":1816,"date":"2015-09-21T20:12:46","date_gmt":"2015-09-21T20:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1816"},"modified":"2015-09-21T20:12:46","modified_gmt":"2015-09-21T20:12:46","slug":"chronic-illness-a-change-of-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/chronic-illness-a-change-of-season.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: A Change of Season"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesy of Aduldej\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As we age with chronic illness, we gradually realize that our bodies and often our spirits enter a prolonged change of season. In Southern California, the change of climate from winter to spring or summer to fall can be so subtle that you might miss it. Elsewhere in the country, the seasonal differences are more pronounced And I think these unique ways of viewing the weather (and leaves changing color and temperatures lowering or rising) can be applied to our seasonal selves, too.<\/p>\n

In the spring of our illnesses, we often feel good and hopeful energy – perhaps a brightness that believes we’ll overcome any physical difficulty. Then, as we approach middle age and we realize the reality of life with a chronic (ongoing) illness, we might feel as if we’re slowing down. Perhaps depression sets in. Perhaps we fe3el heightened frustration or anger. And then, there’s winter. That old time when medications don’t bring the relief they once did, or the side effects from them begin to set in more pronouned than the illness that they’re treating. Then we might become even more grounded in the chill of reality, almost as if our spirits are being overshadowed.<\/p>\n

Looking at the seasons we might experience with illness and thinking about weather-borne seasons I think we can glean some insight. First, seasonal change is inevitable and there are tangible things we can do to prepare. Snow’s coming? Bring in supplies, decide how you’re going to clear the walkways. Colder air? Bring out the bundling clothes, the warm and fuzzy slippers, the comfort.<\/p>\n

The next insight is tied with the first. Yes, seasonal change is inevitable, but it is actually part of a cycle that comes full circle and moves on again. So, we might “cycle” from warmth to old, but as we learn to cope with the “new normal,” we then recapture ways to feel more hopeful and to build renewed strength.<\/p>\n

And the third insight that I’ve learned is that no matter what the “season’of my illness, God is present throughout. I might be cold, He brings warmth. I might be snowed under, He digs me out!<\/p>\n

As autumn arrives, think of God’s constancy and His message of love<\/p>\n

Be heartened! Have hope!<\/p>\n

Joy,<\/p>\n

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

As we age with chronic illness, we gradually realize that our bodies and often our spirits enter a prolonged change of season. In Southern California, the change of climate from winter to spring or summer to fall can be so subtle that you might miss it. Elsewhere in the country, the seasonal differences are more…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness: A Change of Season - 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\/09\/chronic-illness-a-change-of-season.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness: A Change of Season - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As we age with chronic illness, we gradually realize that our bodies and often our spirits enter a prolonged change of season. In Southern California, the change of climate from winter to spring or summer to fall can be so subtle that you might miss it. Elsewhere in the country, the seasonal differences are more…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/chronic-illness-a-change-of-season.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-09-21T20:12:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/09\/AduldejFreeDigitalPhotos.net_-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chronic Illness: A Change of Season - 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\/09\/chronic-illness-a-change-of-season.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chronic Illness: A Change of Season - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"As we age with chronic illness, we gradually realize that our bodies and often our spirits enter a prolonged change of season. In Southern California, the change of climate from winter to spring or summer to fall can be so subtle that you might miss it. Elsewhere in the country, the seasonal differences are more…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/chronic-illness-a-change-of-season.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2015-09-21T20:12:46+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/09\/AduldejFreeDigitalPhotos.net_-300x200.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/chronic-illness-a-change-of-season.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/chronic-illness-a-change-of-season.html","name":"Chronic Illness: A Change of Season - 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\/09\/chronic-illness-a-change-of-season.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/chronic-illness-a-change-of-season.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/09\/AduldejFreeDigitalPhotos.net_-300x200.jpg","datePublished":"2015-09-21T20:12:46+00:00","dateModified":"2015-09-21T20:12:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/chronic-illness-a-change-of-season.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/chronic-illness-a-change-of-season.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/chronic-illness-a-change-of-season.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/09\/AduldejFreeDigitalPhotos.net_-300x200.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/09\/AduldejFreeDigitalPhotos.net_-300x200.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/09\/chronic-illness-a-change-of-season.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chronic Illness: A Change of Season"}]},{"@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\/1816","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=1816"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1817,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816\/revisions\/1817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}