![\"Cubs](\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/350\/2016\/10\/Cubs-for-GDBD-320x191-1-300x179.jpg\")
I have lived with multiple, serious chronic illnesses for many years. I am also a life-long Chicago Cubs fan. The two don’t necessarily have much to do with each other, however this week and, I hope, the following couple of weeks, will bring these two “states of life” together in a way that most chronic-illness-suffering-Cubs-fans have never experienced – but oh, yes, have dreamed of.<\/p>\n
This\u00a0<\/em>year might be\u00a0the<\/em> year.<\/p>\n Life with a chronic health condition can be (the good Lord willing) long, blessed, but fraught with challenges. So, too, is the life of a Chicago Cubs fan. When you have a chronic illness, you look forward to those days or periods when symptoms are moderate and life can be “relatively” normal. As a Cubs fan, you have lived year after year watching\u00a0other<\/em> teams make the cut, move into Post-season and ease into the World Series. They make it look so easy! \u00a0And you think, “Eventually…someday…”<\/p>\n With chronic illness as with the Cubs, you never lose hope, of course. But hope can wear thin, even fray from\u00a0the emotional and physical ups and downs. Those life-altering symptoms? Those “almost” seasons? They can bring exhaustion, frustration, disappointment, and heaps of stress. If you’re reading this, you know. Yes, you know.<\/p>\n So, this year, which might be the<\/em> year, as we move into another phase of Post-Season play,\u00a0\u00a0I am paying special attention to my life with chronic illness\u00a0and<\/em> the Cubs’ progress. I understand that even good stress can put strain on our physical conditions, so I’m going to do what I can to alleviate it. Get more and good sleep and quiet. Stretch. Pray. Keep up with my doctor-prescribed exercise.<\/p>\n In addition, in the midst of the action, I will try not to raise my voice (much) when the Cubs score runs. I will try not to pull a muscle or knock over anything when they win a game. I will try not to reach for snacks that hearken back to my childhood times at Wrigley…much (!). I will not verbalize my memories of watching Leo “the Lip” Durocher, er, “relate” to any of the umpires on the field (or off). \u00a0And I will do my best to take a deep breath before every crucial at-bat or pitch so as to keep calm and relaxed…as much as possible.<\/p>\n