{"id":913,"date":"2013-11-12T23:46:55","date_gmt":"2013-11-12T23:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=913"},"modified":"2013-11-12T22:59:24","modified_gmt":"2013-11-12T22:59:24","slug":"feeling-like-a-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/11\/feeling-like-a-failure.html","title":{"rendered":"Feeling Like a Failure?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesy of Tina Phillips\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At some point in a life with chronic illness and pain, we feel as if we’ve failed. Failed at keeping healthier. Failed at following doctor’s orders. Failed at relationships. Failed at life. No matter how many reassurances we get from friends and family, and no matter how much we tell ourselves that there are “extenuating circumstances,” the sharp stab of inadequacy can really hit us, and hit us hard.<\/p>\n

I suppose this difficult feeling of being a failure is part of life, especially part of a life fraught with health problems. But that doesn’t make it any easier. And as we go along through more years of illness and pain, the burdens seem all that much more heavy upon our fragile shoulders.<\/p>\n

If you’ve read even a smattering of my blogs, here, you know that I fully acknowledge there are “good days” and “bad days” with illness. I hope you also realize that my faith transcends these two categories of describing daily life with lupus, etc. – I don’t believe the bad days, especially, are brought from God to punish or chide or even necessarily challenge. For me, it’s just very simple: there are good days and bad days for us all, and the point is not so much that we rest in them, but it is what we do with them that matters.<\/p>\n

So, on those bad days, when we are tempted to chide ourselves and slap the “failure” label all over ourselves, I have to apply the same way of thinking. That is, we are human and life with chronic illnesses and pain is not a linear proposition. We will triumph (“good days”), but we will also stumble (“bad days”). We will sail through some storms, and feel pummeled in others. But, as long as we believe that God loves us, cares for us, and forgives us completely, how can we believe we are failures?<\/p>\n

Sometimes, we might feel as if we’ve failed. But, at those times, if we focus instead on God’s goodness and the hand He extends to lift us up, that feeling of failure will dissipate into His unconditional love, giving us renewed strength for the next leg of our journey.<\/p>\n

Blessings for the day,
\nMaureen<\/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\/913","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=913"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":914,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913\/revisions\/914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}