{"id":623,"date":"2013-04-10T17:04:43","date_gmt":"2013-04-10T17:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=623"},"modified":"2013-04-10T17:04:43","modified_gmt":"2013-04-10T17:04:43","slug":"chronic-illness-when-the-future-is-unclear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/04\/chronic-illness-when-the-future-is-unclear.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: When the Future Is Unclear"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>When you’ve lived through the sharp flares and relative calms of chronic illness, you begin to understand that nothing is guaranteed. As I’ve experienced recently, sometimes the medications we take to keep some symptoms under control suddenly stop working or cause serious side effects. Sometimes we do everything “right,” and try to take as good care as possible, but the illness has a mind of its own and flares anyway.<\/p>\n

The best laid plans….<\/p>\n

And yet, in the media and, perhaps, our own circle of friends, there are calls to plan. Plan for vacations, plan for events, plan for retirement, plan for the future.<\/p>\n

How do you plan for the future, when the future is unclear?<\/p>\n

There are no easy answers to this perpetual question. On the one end of the spectrum, we could plan our lives to the day, to the minute, firmly resolved to do XYZ no matter how we feel. On the other end, we could live as if we’re in an unmoored, rudderless boat that just drifts from one day to the next.<\/p>\n

For me, there’s a relatively reasonable middle ground. Like many people, I have dreams, goals, and hopes. I don’t want to give them up because my illness might flare, might restrict me, might become more serious than it already is. But I also have to be realistic, and take into account where I am now inorder to have a future that’s rich with goodness and not simply illness.\u00a0 I have to first take care of health, and then address the hoped-for future in light of my abilities and lupus status. And, I put everything into the prism and perspective of faith – God does know the future, after all, and He has a will for each of us.<\/p>\n

When we think about the future in terms of illness, life can seem mighty scary. But when we think about a future that God is present in, supporting us and wanting what is best for us (even if this means still living with a terrible disease), the future seems brighter. Taking all those “this could happen, that could happen” moments and lifting them up to the Father, then taking cherished dreams and regarding them creatively, one step at a time (the subject of my next blog), can give us the support and relief we need to be more confident as we move forward, even if the future is unclear.<\/p>\n

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

Maureen<\/p>\n

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

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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\/623","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=623"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":626,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623\/revisions\/626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}