{"id":2159,"date":"2016-11-15T21:13:18","date_gmt":"2016-11-15T21:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=2159"},"modified":"2016-11-15T21:13:18","modified_gmt":"2016-11-15T21:13:18","slug":"chronic-illness-holidays-begin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/11\/chronic-illness-holidays-begin.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: Before the Holidays Begin"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image
Image Courtesy of Stuart Miles\/FreeDigitalPhotos.neti know it might seem as if Christmas is already here and New Year’s Eve is around the corner. All of the advertising for holiday season has begun in earnest, and I, personally, have had to dodge a tree ornament or two on the way to the dairy section of my local supermarket!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Holidays are here?!<\/p>\n

It might seem as if Christmas has already happened and New Year’s Eve is right around the corner. But although it seems as if we are in holiday mode externally, if you’re like me and have myriad health-related issues to juggle, even Thanksgiving might still feel like it’s a long way off inside, in the heart, where holidays really matter.<\/p>\n

So, I thought I’d offer a few suggestions for getting ready for this upcoming cycle of festivities,. From the practical to the prayerful, these are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Begin right now to carve out a few more moments in your day to sit quietly and relax. Breathe deeply, exhaling angst and restiveness.<\/li>\n
  2. Look at your calendar and mark the dates you know you’ll be busy with something festive, doctors’ appointments, or other responsibilities and then also mark in time to rest up beforehand and afterward. Doing this can help ease the feeling of exhaustion that sometimes comes with “doing” the holidays.<\/li>\n
  3. Consider intangible gifts that you can give to those whom you love. Chronic illness is expensive, and you might need most of your resources for bills related to it. So, think of ways you can give of yourself, your time, your attention. These matter, too!<\/li>\n
  4. Limit distractions so you can truly contemplate the Season. Yes, catalogs can be entertaining. But they’re not really fulfilling! Try reading a Christmas story or two instead!<\/li>\n
  5. Make decorating easy on yourself. Do only what you can. For the rest, decorate your heart with comfort, joy, and peace.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I hope these suggestions help as you move into the holidays! I’m with you all the way,<\/p>\n

    Peace,<\/p>\n

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

    Holidays are here?! It might seem as if Christmas has already happened and New Year’s Eve is right around the corner. But although it seems as if we are in holiday mode externally, if you’re like me and have myriad health-related issues to juggle, even Thanksgiving might still feel like it’s a long way off…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness: Before the Holidays Begin - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness: Before the Holidays Begin - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Holidays are here?! It might seem as if Christmas has already happened and New Year’s Eve is right around the corner. 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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\/2159","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=2159"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2160,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159\/revisions\/2160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}