{"id":2009,"date":"2016-04-07T19:06:14","date_gmt":"2016-04-07T19:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=2009"},"modified":"2016-04-03T19:54:19","modified_gmt":"2016-04-03T19:54:19","slug":"dont-panic-one-thing-you-can-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/04\/dont-panic-one-thing-you-can-do.html","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Panic: One Thing You Can Do"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Photo courtesy of koratmember\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Often, a sense of panic might rise up in us because we feel we cannot control the crisis or problem that’s plaguing us. Sometimes, this is an illness that’s raging despite everything our doctors are using in their arsenal of meds and treatments. Sometimes, it’s a sudden jolt, like the loss of a job or natural disaster that strikes suddenly and leaves a horrible aftermath.<\/p>\n

However a crisis occurs, it helps get back a sense of even quasi-balance if we try to find one thing that we can take charge of, one thing that we can do.<\/p>\n

As unpredictable as lupus is, I try each day to do at least one thing to enhance my feeling of calm. This might be as simple as taking a few moments, even in the doctor’s examination room (while waiting to see the doc) to breathe and pray. In other crises that I’ve faced, I’ve tried to do similar things to give myself even a smidgeon of a piece of control. And I truly have felt the benefits of doing this, time and again.<\/p>\n

My new book,\u00a0Don’t Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough<\/em>, contains lots of tips on ways we can take some control from the uncontrollable. I hope it helps – and I look forward to your thoughts, too!<\/p>\n

Joy and peace,<\/p>\n

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

Often, a sense of panic might rise up in us because we feel we cannot control the crisis or problem that’s plaguing us. Sometimes, this is an illness that’s raging despite everything our doctors are using in their arsenal of meds and treatments. Sometimes, it’s a sudden jolt, like the loss of a job or…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,360,1047,578,1420,1246],"tags":[2081,2082,2083,117,2001,2002,2084],"class_list":["post-2009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-determination","category-good","category-goodness","category-pain-2","category-uplifting","tag-books-by-maureen-pratt","tag-coping-with-crises","tag-coping-with-health-problems","tag-crises","tag-dont-panic","tag-new-book-by-maureen-pratt","tag-taking-charge-of-a-crisis"],"yoast_head":"\nDon't Panic: One Thing You Can Do - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to feel more control in an uncontrollable situation\" \/>\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\/2016\/04\/dont-panic-one-thing-you-can-do.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don't Panic: One Thing You Can Do - 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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\/2009","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=2009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2010,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2009\/revisions\/2010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}