{"id":703,"date":"2013-05-23T19:50:05","date_gmt":"2013-05-23T19:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=703"},"modified":"2013-05-21T20:02:32","modified_gmt":"2013-05-21T20:02:32","slug":"chronic-illness-setting-boundaries-or-building-a-wall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/chronic-illness-setting-boundaries-or-building-a-wall.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: Setting Boundaries or Building a Wall?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Maureen<\/a>Fatigue is one of the most difficult things to cope with when living with chronic illness or pain. It can make even the most mundane activities seem impossible, and sometimes it can come on so suddenly that it stops you in mid-sentence.<\/p>\n

To better manage life with ongoing fatigue, many of us try to set boundaries. Limiting the time spent on telephone calls, for example, or scheduling only one outside activity per day instead of over-booking and then feeling the ill-effects for days afterward.<\/p>\n

But, sometimes and often subtly, the boundaries become thick, impenetrable walls, shutting out things that might bring us a better sense of wellness, productivity, or spiritual resilience.\u00a0 One, brief phone call might become no calls at all. One dinner with friends might become dining each night alone.<\/p>\n

Fear can be a powerful catalyst in building walls. Fear of rejection (because of illness). Fear of becoming more ill. Fear of forgetting how to be sociable.<\/p>\n

Depression, too, can play a part in wall-building. That feeling of not wanting to do anything, go anywhere, talk to anyone can take over little by little until it becomes all-encompassing.<\/p>\n

Balancing our lives and the fatigue that can crush us is never easy. And, sometimes, it is completely appropriate to hibernate. But sometimes, we have to look at our boundaries through more reflective glasses and ask, “Am I retreating out of fear?” “Should I speak with my doctor about the possibility of depression?” “Am I doing enough to take care of myself so that I can have ‘good days’ when I can be more social and more active?”<\/p>\n

Good questions, all. And helpful to each of us, no matter how far along the “living with chronic illness and pain” journey we are.<\/p>\n

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

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

Fatigue is one of the most difficult things to cope with when living with chronic illness or pain. It can make even the most mundane activities seem impossible, and sometimes it can come on so suddenly that it stops you in mid-sentence. To better manage life with ongoing fatigue, many of us try to set…<\/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":[596,598,29,44,507,16,289,30,597],"class_list":["post-703","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-boundaries","tag-building-walls","tag-chronic-illness","tag-chronic-pain","tag-depression","tag-fatigue","tag-fear","tag-pain","tag-self-help"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness: Setting Boundaries or Building a Wall? - 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\/05\/chronic-illness-setting-boundaries-or-building-a-wall.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness: Setting Boundaries or Building a Wall? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fatigue is one of the most difficult things to cope with when living with chronic illness or pain. It can make even the most mundane activities seem impossible, and sometimes it can come on so suddenly that it stops you in mid-sentence. To better manage life with ongoing fatigue, many of us try to set…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/chronic-illness-setting-boundaries-or-building-a-wall.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-23T19:50:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-05-21T20:02:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/05\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic-246x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chronic Illness: Setting Boundaries or Building a Wall? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/chronic-illness-setting-boundaries-or-building-a-wall.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chronic Illness: Setting Boundaries or Building a Wall? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"Fatigue is one of the most difficult things to cope with when living with chronic illness or pain. It can make even the most mundane activities seem impossible, and sometimes it can come on so suddenly that it stops you in mid-sentence. To better manage life with ongoing fatigue, many of us try to set…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/chronic-illness-setting-boundaries-or-building-a-wall.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2013-05-23T19:50:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-05-21T20:02:32+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/05\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic-246x300.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/chronic-illness-setting-boundaries-or-building-a-wall.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/chronic-illness-setting-boundaries-or-building-a-wall.html","name":"Chronic Illness: Setting Boundaries or Building a Wall? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/chronic-illness-setting-boundaries-or-building-a-wall.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/chronic-illness-setting-boundaries-or-building-a-wall.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/05\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic-246x300.jpg","datePublished":"2013-05-23T19:50:05+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-21T20:02:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/chronic-illness-setting-boundaries-or-building-a-wall.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/chronic-illness-setting-boundaries-or-building-a-wall.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/chronic-illness-setting-boundaries-or-building-a-wall.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/05\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic-246x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/05\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic-246x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/05\/chronic-illness-setting-boundaries-or-building-a-wall.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chronic Illness: Setting Boundaries or Building a Wall?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/","name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32","name":"mpratt","description":"Several years ago, Maureen Pratt earned her Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts\/Playwriting from UCLA's School of Theater, FIlm and Television. 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\/703","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=703"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":704,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703\/revisions\/704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}