{"id":1837,"date":"2015-10-13T20:27:17","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T20:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1837"},"modified":"2015-10-13T20:27:37","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T20:27:37","slug":"chronic-illness-never-at-your-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/10\/chronic-illness-never-at-your-best.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: Never at your best?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesy of Lavoview\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The weather is still blistering hot here, and I feel it every time I go outside – and hours afterward. Even when the sun sets, the pavement is still warm, and there seems to be no relief from that sluggish sense of time suspended, energy zapped. Yet, of course, life moves on. Friends, errands, docs, and more need attention. Wouldn’t it be easier if we could handle our relationships and responsibilities only at times when we’re at our best? Put everything off to those “VERY good days?”<\/p>\n

Alas…<\/p>\n

So, instead of fretting over “Oh, I’d be so much more coherent if I had a bit more sleep” or “If only my knees didn’t ache so much, I could get through this round of errands much faster,” I’ve been learning to accept and “just be.” Yup, no excuses or regrets. Just “Here I am, I’m doing my best.”<\/p>\n

And that, I think, is the key. We might never be “at our best,” devoid of symptoms or other complications. But our intent to do our best can help put those symptoms and the task, person, or problem at hand in good perspective.<\/p>\n

Yes, we might not always be our best. In fact, sometimes, we might look frazzled or worse and feel just as non-optimal inside. But we can always try to do ou best, and therein make the difference.<\/p>\n

Joys!<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n

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

The weather is still blistering hot here, and I feel it every time I go outside – and hours afterward. Even when the sun sets, the pavement is still warm, and there seems to be no relief from that sluggish sense of time suspended, energy zapped. Yet, of course, life moves on. Friends, errands, docs,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,1242,4,1047,379,1245,1421,1,1246],"tags":[1926,29,1924,1925,10,19,1927],"class_list":["post-1837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement-in-life","category-food-for-thought","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-good","category-lupus-2","category-positive","category-take-some-time-to-rest","category-uncategorized","category-uplifting","tag-best","tag-chronic-illness","tag-feeling-awful","tag-feeling-horrible","tag-health","tag-illness","tag-ourbest"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness: Never at your best? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"coping with illness\" \/>\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\/10\/chronic-illness-never-at-your-best.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness: Never at your best? 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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\/1837","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=1837"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1838,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1837\/revisions\/1838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}