{"id":755,"date":"2013-07-31T10:56:07","date_gmt":"2013-07-31T10:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=755"},"modified":"2013-07-25T23:10:34","modified_gmt":"2013-07-25T23:10:34","slug":"what-do-you-let-go-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/07\/what-do-you-let-go-of.html","title":{"rendered":"What Do You Let Go Of?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Maureen<\/a>Chronic illness can lead to major changes in our lives, especially in our bodies. Weight gain or loss, skin tone alterations, hair loss or over-furry growth – these and other things can occur along the way and we have to make adjustments.\u00a0 And we might find that the things we used to wear, use, live with and perhaps even cherish before our illness no longer fit or suit us or our lives now.<\/p>\n

What do we let go of from our “former lives?”\u00a0 When do we make the break?<\/p>\n

Some people hang on to those pairs of skinny jeans with the hope that one day, they will fit again.<\/p>\n

Others keep job-related gear stowed in the back of a closet, “just in case” illness reverses itself and they can, once again, get back to work.<\/p>\n

Perhaps memberships to organizations, gyms, or other past activities come up for renewal and the temptation to keep them running because “maybe one day soon…” echoes over and over again.<\/p>\n

Perhaps, too, certain friends or acquaintances, who were so vital to the “old” life, become problematic in the “new,” but letting go seems too difficult to face.<\/p>\n

Early on in my new life with lupus, I hung onto business clothes and other things left over from “before.” Two things helped me move on:<\/p>\n

I realized that my diagnosis would require new clothes (sun protective shirts, for example), and didn’t have room for those along with the “old” pieces I had no use for. Ditto for my notebooks and other work-related tools.<\/p>\n

Secondly, I realized that, although I could no longer use my professional possessions, but they were still perfectly usable. Someone else might be able to benefit from them, someone in need.<\/p>\n

I gradually “deaccessioned” my work clothes and other things, making room for my new life. In the same way, I worked through other parts of “letting go,” understanding that, with illness comes change. Some of it is painful, but some is refreshing. And if it is done with a spirit of hope and help for someone else, all the better.<\/p>\n

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

Maureen<\/p>\n

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

Chronic illness can lead to major changes in our lives, especially in our bodies. Weight gain or loss, skin tone alterations, hair loss or over-furry growth – these and other things can occur along the way and we have to make adjustments.\u00a0 And we might find that the things we used to wear, use, live…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,4,379],"tags":[650,29,44,252,19,649,30],"class_list":["post-755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-lupus-2","tag-change","tag-chronic-illness","tag-chronic-pain","tag-diagnosis","tag-illness","tag-letting-go","tag-pain"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Do You Let Go Of? - 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\/07\/what-do-you-let-go-of.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Do You Let Go Of? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chronic illness can lead to major changes in our lives, especially in our bodies. 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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\/755","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=755"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":757,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755\/revisions\/757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}