{"id":2039,"date":"2016-06-01T01:26:12","date_gmt":"2016-06-01T01:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=2039"},"modified":"2016-05-30T19:36:41","modified_gmt":"2016-05-30T19:36:41","slug":"chronic-illness-and-pain-the-rest-of-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/06\/chronic-illness-and-pain-the-rest-of-you.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness and Pain: The Rest of You"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image
Image Courtesy of MrWildLife\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chronic illness and pain are serious business, and they take up a good deal of our time. Often, when someone asks what I do I say, “Well, managing my health is much like a full-time job.” It might not be what they want to hear, but it’s true (as you well know, too!).<\/p>\n

But we also need to understand that it’s not all we are, nor is the care we give our illnesses all we need. And right after the first long weekend of the summer season is a perfect time to visit “the rest of you” and me – in other words:<\/p>\n

What are you going to do for fun this summer?<\/p>\n

Fun?! Enjoyment?! What?<\/p>\n

Yup. Fun! Enjoyment!<\/p>\n

Humor is helpful for us to cope. Laughter is lovely – and also gives us a better outlook on the world and our illnesses. And rest, oh, my, yes, rest is absolutely important for us. A good book (maybe my new one,\u00a0Don’t Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough<\/em>?\u00a0http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Dont-Panic-Keep-Going-Tough\/dp\/1616369493\/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1464636617&sr=1-1&keywords=Maureen+Pratt<\/a>\u00a0), a soft chair, a glass of something cool (lemonade is my favorite) – it doesn’t have to be elaborate to be restful!<\/p>\n

We plan our doctors’ visits, the times we take our meds, and all other aspects of our lives with illness. Try planning some fun this summer, too. Dedicate a few hours to idling. Kick up some sand, if you can. Or just listen to birds chirp, trees rustle in the breeze.<\/p>\n

Make time for the rest of you this summer. You’ll be glad you did!<\/p>\n

Joys,<\/p>\n

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

Chronic illness and pain are serious business, and they take up a good deal of our time. Often, when someone asks what I do I say, “Well, managing my health is much like a full-time job.” It might not be what they want to hear, but it’s true (as you well know, too!). But we…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43,4,1047,578,1420,1245,1421,1246],"tags":[29,44,449,10,54,57,332,2132,2131,9],"class_list":["post-2039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-good","category-goodness","category-pain-2","category-positive","category-take-some-time-to-rest","category-uplifting","tag-chronic-illness","tag-chronic-pain","tag-happiness","tag-health","tag-humor","tag-laughter","tag-rest","tag-summer-happiness","tag-taking-care","tag-wellness"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness and Pain: The Rest of You - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A great ingredient for a good summer!\" \/>\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\/06\/chronic-illness-and-pain-the-rest-of-you.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: The Rest of You - 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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\/2039","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=2039"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2041,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039\/revisions\/2041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}