{"id":1857,"date":"2015-10-25T19:04:50","date_gmt":"2015-10-25T19:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1857"},"modified":"2015-10-25T19:04:50","modified_gmt":"2015-10-25T19:04:50","slug":"chronic-illness-through-a-back-door","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/10\/chronic-illness-through-a-back-door.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: Through a Back Door"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Second<\/a>I was recently rebuffed by someone when I tried to be uplifting in conversation with someone who is very ill. The person who rebuffed me was adamant about a particularly negative ramification of illness and refused to entertain the notion that there could be anything positive coming from it at all.<\/p>\n

Well, of course, with such refusal, there would not and probably never could be!<\/p>\n

But as impossible as some situations are, if we have to live with them, I’ve always thought we do need to try to find another way to approach them so we’re not weighed down in the mire by negativity. Sometimes we can approach them through an open window – and obvious positive (such as the fact that, because I have no hair and have to wear wigs – the negative – I never do have a bad hair day – the positive). But sometimes, we have to go through a back door – because of illness\/medication\/other, nothing tastes good, we can look to other sensations to give us pleasure (temperature, texture, sense-memory).<\/p>\n

What’s the point of this attitude-gymnastics? The point is that, the more we live in total negativity, the more negative our lives will be. Not a good approach, especially when all else is very dire in our lives.<\/p>\n

Faith gives me hope, which in turn gives me a resilient ability to find something positive about negative situations. Those who have no faith might have a more difficult time of it, but it still makes logical sense that, if we do want to “get well” in any way – body, mind, spirit – we have to believe that “get well” is possible. Otherwise, we’ll spin our wheels, pounding on the front door with increasingly painful (proverbial) fists.<\/p>\n

I apply my desire to find a positive in the negative to other things, too. Tis the season for ants to try to find their way into homes, and they seem to think they’ve found a “front door” in one of my kitchen cupboards. Not a fun thing, to be sure, and one that takes time to manage and monitor. But, I’ve found a positive even here! Yes, I’ve managed to better arrange my cupboard, refreshing it even as the ants come and go, with the change of season.<\/p>\n

Joys!<\/p>\n

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

I was recently rebuffed by someone when I tried to be uplifting in conversation with someone who is very ill. The person who rebuffed me was adamant about a particularly negative ramification of illness and refused to entertain the notion that there could be anything positive coming from it at all. 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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\/1857","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=1857"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1858,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1857\/revisions\/1858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}