{"id":1906,"date":"2015-12-03T20:40:20","date_gmt":"2015-12-03T20:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=1906"},"modified":"2015-11-29T20:51:36","modified_gmt":"2015-11-29T20:51:36","slug":"chronic-illness-and-pain-a-holiday-diet-of-goodness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2015\/12\/chronic-illness-and-pain-a-holiday-diet-of-goodness.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness and Pain: A Holiday Diet of Goodness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Second<\/a>I confess that I really like to watch good holiday movies. They might be “sappy” and they might be oldies during which I could recite upcoming scenes, lines, and action points. But, no matter. They “feel good,” especially when I’m “feeling bad.” And they serve an even more important purpose: They put me on a holiday diet of goodness that feeds my heart, soul, and need for keeping stress at bay.<\/p>\n

During this busy time, it’s so easy to have negative influences and stresses ooze into our spirits. Thoughts like,\u00a0“I’ll never get everything done,” “I’ll probably get sick just in time for the big family meal,”\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0“I’m going to be over-tired, over-spent, and over-done.”\u00a0<\/em>External influences such as,\u00a0“Better move quickly or you’ll miss out on all the fun-sales-opportunities-church parking spaces!” “The world is completely messed up, and no Christmas cheer can fix it,”\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0“There’s no room at the ‘inn’ for someone who’s really sick.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, these and other stressors can really weigh us down. But a holiday diet of goodness can lift us up. Oh, it doesn’t have to be a movie. It can be anything that is truly, health-fully good for you. And it can also be us\u00a0doing<\/em> good for others. Wishing everyone a “Merry Christmas<\/i>,”<\/em> is a great start, but even a warm smile will do. Just as long as it’s nourishing for the soul and a child-like delight for the heart.<\/p>\n

Just as long as it’s good, like the baby Jesus in the manger, the wisemen on the journey, the shepherds in the fields.<\/p>\n

Just as long as it’s as good as Christmas itself.<\/p>\n

Isn’t that something we could all use more of?<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

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

I confess that I really like to watch good holiday movies. They might be “sappy” and they might be oldies during which I could recite upcoming scenes, lines, and action points. But, no matter. They “feel good,” especially when I’m “feeling bad.” And they serve an even more important purpose: They put me on a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[241,306,3,1422,43,1242,1047,578],"tags":[1970,1971,1969,1968,1972],"class_list":["post-1906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-christmas-season-2012-2013","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-chronic-pain-and-the-holidays","category-encouragement-in-life","category-food-for-thought","category-good","category-goodness","tag-a-diet-of-goodness","tag-goodness-and-us","tag-holiday-diet","tag-holiday-dieting","tag-illnes-and-goodness"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness and Pain: A Holiday Diet of Goodness - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The best holiday diet for the soul\" \/>\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\/12\/chronic-illness-and-pain-a-holiday-diet-of-goodness.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness and Pain: A Holiday Diet of Goodness - 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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\/1906","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=1906"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1908,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1906\/revisions\/1908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}