{"id":507,"date":"2013-02-21T09:36:39","date_gmt":"2013-02-21T09:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=507"},"modified":"2013-02-17T01:56:11","modified_gmt":"2013-02-17T01:56:11","slug":"chronic-illness-you-do-not-have-to-do-it-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/02\/chronic-illness-you-do-not-have-to-do-it-all.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: You Do Not Have to Do It All"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Calling all multi-tasking, over-stressed, well-intentioned people with chronic illness! (and I mean myself, too): You do not have to do it all. Not even if the nicest person from church calls you to ask you a “favor” because he\/she knows that you’re home all day and you “must have a few minutes” to help out (sound familiar?). No, (yes, I said ‘no’), you are perfectly entitled to carve out time, energy, space, and brain power to, (shudder!) say, “No,” and take care of yourself.\u00a0Who? Yes, you!<\/p>\n

If you are someone who thrives on reaching out to\u00a0others, this business of saying “no” may seem completely\u00a0foreign to you. You might feel guilty\u00a0about denying the favor, asking for space, or\u00a0taking that precious opportunity to “just veg.” But you know, deep down, as I do, that illness takes a lot out of us, and if you don’t revive once in awhile, it will take even more and more. And you know, too, that although to an outsider, it seems as if your days are stretched lazily before you with absolutely nothing but time to give to everyone else, that is hardly the case; managing life with illness takes a lot of time. For some of us, it’s like a full-time job!<\/p>\n

We might not always succeed in saying, “no,” But, I’m learning, even insisting, that each day is not fully charged, but allows ample time with rest and dreaming and God. I don’t like to, but I do tell someone if I only have time for a brief phone call instead of a long chat (or an email instead of a call at all). I try to look ahead of a week, and not pack in activities that I know will take more time than energy will allow.\u00a0 Yes, I try,which is more than half of the point itself.<\/p>\n

We cannot do it all any more than we can “have it all” – but we can give ourselves the opportunity to nurture health and then be of service in a more balanced, blessed way.<\/p>\n

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

Maureen<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

Calling all multi-tasking, over-stressed, well-intentioned people with chronic illness! (and I mean myself, too): You do not have to do it all. Not even if the nicest person from church calls you to ask you a “favor” because he\/she knows that you’re home all day and you “must have a few minutes” to help out…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43,4,379],"tags":[413,429,29,10,18,430,30,428],"class_list":["post-507","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-lupus-2","tag-activity","tag-being-of-service","tag-chronic-illness","tag-health","tag-lupus","tag-multitasking","tag-pain","tag-saying-no"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness: You Do Not Have to Do It All - 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\/02\/chronic-illness-you-do-not-have-to-do-it-all.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness: You Do Not Have to Do It All - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Calling all multi-tasking, over-stressed, well-intentioned people with chronic illness! 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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. 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