{"id":788,"date":"2013-08-20T09:20:28","date_gmt":"2013-08-20T09:20:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=788"},"modified":"2013-08-14T20:22:01","modified_gmt":"2013-08-14T20:22:01","slug":"chronic-illness-a-special-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/chronic-illness-a-special-home.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: A Special Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesy of SusieB\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With all the talk swirling around today about the housing and real estate market, I’ve been thinking a lot about what “home” means. For some, of course, it is considered an investment to be flipped at the swiftest and greatest profit possible. For others, it is just a place to house possessions and provide a place to sleep. Still others search for just the right location; the actual dwelling place might be an afterthought in light of school, work, and shopping considerations. And, too, there are those who want a house to reflect wealth, prestige, and social standing.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, superficial considerations mask what’s really important. For those of us with chronic illness, seeing “home” as a place where we can nurture health, feel secure, and be comfortable is more of a priority than location, location, location.<\/p>\n

Some things I find useful in making a house (or apartment, or even a room of one’s own) a place of support for the chronic illness sufferer are:<\/p>\n

1) Keep it simple. No matter how small or large the house, the simpler life within it is, the easier it is to take care of it and let it take care of you.<\/p>\n

2) Cultivate comfort. That antique furniture might be worth a mint, but apart from sentimental value, how comfortable is it to sit, lie, or dine on it? Is extra pain worth it? Being comfortable helps us relax and can calm down stress. Ahh!<\/p>\n

3) Personalize it. Remodeling and flipping property might be well and good for some, but a home contains personal touches that help us reflect who we are and can play up the great attributes we have, even if we do live with terrible pain.<\/p>\n

4) Invite quiet. Peace can flow into us like a nurturing river, a quiet river, when we allow it to. Even in an urban environment, we have some control over the noise inside our homes – and can take steps to quiet it when we want to listen in to God’s wonderful whisper.<\/p>\n

5) Organize for ease. Cooking utensils at your fingertips, lightweight laundry baskets, telephones and remotes where you can get to them without upset – organization doesn’t have to be rigid, but it can make life so much easier, especially for daily tasks.<\/p>\n

These are a few of my own hints – let me know what some of yours are!<\/p>\n

Happy Home!<\/p>\n

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

Maureen<\/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\/788","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=788"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":790,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788\/revisions\/790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}