{"id":806,"date":"2013-08-30T01:13:13","date_gmt":"2013-08-30T01:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=806"},"modified":"2013-08-21T18:15:53","modified_gmt":"2013-08-21T18:15:53","slug":"rest-for-the-weary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/rest-for-the-weary.html","title":{"rendered":"Rest for the Weary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Maureen<\/a>I met up with a neighbor recently. I hardly ever see her because she’s always working. But on this day, she was dressed casually, carrying a department store shopping bag, and wearing a cautiously cheery smile.<\/p>\n

“Off today?’ I asked her.<\/p>\n

“Yes, for once,” she replied. Her smile faded a little and she glanced down at the ground.<\/p>\n

“It kind of makes you feel guilty, taking a day off sometimes, doesn’t it?” I asked, understanding immediately her disconnect between having a rare bit of leisure and thinking of the work that still needed to get done.<\/p>\n

She looked up at me, clearly grateful.<\/p>\n

“Yes,” she said. “It feels weird.”<\/p>\n

It can be very hard to know how to relax when you’re working all the time. Even those who are too ill to “hold down” a regular job (or two) can undertand that sense of lost that can come over us when we finish our day’s duties and have a stretch of down time.<\/p>\n

But rest is important, and certainly not something to feel guilty about. Especially if you have a health challenge, rest is a way for us to give our bodies the chance to relax, rejuvenate, and become stronger. It’s also a way for us to recharge our spirits, which can be very neglected if we’re working 24\/7.<\/p>\n

This Labor Day, as we take<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I met up with a neighbor recently. I hardly ever see her because she’s always working. But on this day, she was dressed casually, carrying a department store shopping bag, and wearing a cautiously cheery smile. “Off today?’ I asked her. “Yes, for once,” she replied. Her smile faded a little and she glanced down…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43,4,383,379,1],"tags":[29,695,30,380,381,332,635,644],"class_list":["post-806","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-heart-health","category-lupus-2","category-uncategorized","tag-chronic-illness","tag-labor-day","tag-pain","tag-relax","tag-relaxation","tag-rest","tag-vacation","tag-work"],"yoast_head":"\nRest for the Weary - 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\/08\/rest-for-the-weary.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rest for the Weary - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I met up with a neighbor recently. I hardly ever see her because she’s always working. But on this day, she was dressed casually, carrying a department store shopping bag, and wearing a cautiously cheery smile. “Off today?’ I asked her. “Yes, for once,” she replied. Her smile faded a little and she glanced down…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/rest-for-the-weary.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-08-30T01:13:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-08-21T18:15:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic4-246x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rest for the Weary - 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\/08\/rest-for-the-weary.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rest for the Weary - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"I met up with a neighbor recently. I hardly ever see her because she’s always working. But on this day, she was dressed casually, carrying a department store shopping bag, and wearing a cautiously cheery smile. “Off today?’ I asked her. “Yes, for once,” she replied. Her smile faded a little and she glanced down…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/rest-for-the-weary.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2013-08-30T01:13:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-08-21T18:15:53+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic4-246x300.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/rest-for-the-weary.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/rest-for-the-weary.html","name":"Rest for the Weary - 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\/08\/rest-for-the-weary.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/rest-for-the-weary.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic4-246x300.jpg","datePublished":"2013-08-30T01:13:13+00:00","dateModified":"2013-08-21T18:15:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/rest-for-the-weary.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/rest-for-the-weary.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/rest-for-the-weary.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic4-246x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/04\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic4-246x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/08\/rest-for-the-weary.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rest for the Weary"}]},{"@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\/806","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=806"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":809,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806\/revisions\/809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}