{"id":381,"date":"2013-01-09T18:34:19","date_gmt":"2013-01-09T18:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=381"},"modified":"2013-01-09T18:34:19","modified_gmt":"2013-01-09T18:34:19","slug":"feel-like-youre-failing-because-of-your-pain-or-illness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/01\/feel-like-youre-failing-because-of-your-pain-or-illness.html","title":{"rendered":"Feel Like You’re Failing Because of Your Pain or Illness?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Today’s the “day after” my iron infusion and I’m at a very low ebb. Achy, headachy, slow…and wouldn’t you know that, when I got back from the long day yesterday, I had numerous emails and voicemails awaiting me. Things to do, people to call back…Have I responded to them? Honestly, eventually, I will. But for now, I’m turning my very minimal energy to writing this in the hope that this example in my life might help others who, because of their own chronic illness or pain, might feel like they’re failing because health challenges stand in the way of being fully responsive and productive…or even a little responsive and productive.<\/p>\n

In my\u00a0years of living with the flare ups of illness, I’ve had\u00a0many experiences of being interrupted in mid-task, mid-day, or even mid-sentence. Sometimes, I’ve had to cancel activities completely. Sometimes, I’ve returned calls and emails days after receiving them. And, I used to feel like a complete failure.<\/p>\n

Now, however, I understand that these interruptions are not failures, but all a part of life with a serious illness and pain.\u00a0 And, I’ve learned to explain this to others, especially the need to rest and prioritize so that the little, precious energy that I have on a given day will be put to\u00a0its\u00a0best use.\u00a0 The limitations placed upon me by illness are not easy to live with, but they just are.\u00a0But stressing because I feel bad about feeling bad is, well, just heaping pain upon pain, which is something I choose not to do.<\/p>\n

Yes, today’s a slow day. A rest day. And a day God gives. Come to think of it, He rested, too, didn’t He, on the seventh day? (Genesis 2:1-2) Wise, indeed!<\/p>\n

Blessings for the day,<\/p>\n

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

Today’s the “day after” my iron infusion and I’m at a very low ebb. Achy, headachy, slow…and wouldn’t you know that, when I got back from the long day yesterday, I had numerous emails and voicemails awaiting me. Things to do, people to call back…Have I responded to them? Honestly, eventually, I will. But for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43,4,83],"tags":[29,44,334,336,337,19,30,332,333,335,20],"class_list":["post-381","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-scripture-and-us","tag-chronic-illness","tag-chronic-pain","tag-failing","tag-failure","tag-feeling-like-a-failure","tag-illness","tag-pain","tag-rest","tag-sleep","tag-slow","tag-understanding"],"yoast_head":"\nFeel Like You're Failing Because of Your Pain or Illness? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\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\/2013\/01\/feel-like-youre-failing-because-of-your-pain-or-illness.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Feel Like You're Failing Because of Your Pain or Illness? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today’s the “day after” my iron infusion and I’m at a very low ebb. 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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\/381","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=381"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":385,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381\/revisions\/385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}