{"id":948,"date":"2013-12-08T21:12:28","date_gmt":"2013-12-08T21:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=948"},"modified":"2013-12-08T20:30:04","modified_gmt":"2013-12-08T20:30:04","slug":"derailed-at-holiday-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/12\/derailed-at-holiday-time.html","title":{"rendered":"Derailed at Holiday Time?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>
Image courtesy of ArvindBalaraman\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net\u00a0\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Advent. Christmas. New Year’s. Every year, they come around once a year. And we plan carefully, putting activities into narrow windows, packing them into our schedules.But often, for those of us with chronic illness and pain, we can be derailed. Sideswiped by health problems. And then, what happens to our carefully planned holiday lives?<\/p>\n

As it happens, this year, this happened to me. Last week was, for all intents and purposes, a “lost” week. Right in the midst of holiday fun and many planned activities, my right eye started to give me trouble. The trouble, it seems, had all the makings of shingles in the eye. So, instead of gift-shopping, I went prescription shopping, and spent the rest of the week (and, indeed, this weekend), resting, treating, and “feeling the pain” of missing everything that had been on my schedule. Fun things. Joyful things. Things I’d really looked forward to.<\/p>\n

And now, comes the difficult part (er, that is, apart from dealing with this particularly painful eye problem). I’ll have to be strong about not trying to make up for the lost time.<\/p>\n

Yes, even as the holiday season barrels on, recovering from a serious infection will require easing rather than squeezing into Advent\/Christmas action. \u00a0It’s going to be difficult, but necessary. But I feel no resentment or angst about it or the “lost” time. Rather, I feel a continuation of November’s holiday sentiment: Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

Last week and this weekend was extremely difficult, of course. But it also showed me many wonderful things. The pleasure of quiet and rest. The support of friends (chicken soup, rides to and from the doctor, and cheery phone calls were all true blessings!). Catching the infection early (thank you, Lord!) and starting treatment promptly. Christmas music. The chill in the air that smells of Yuletide.<\/p>\n

Finally, this experience has reminded me that, no matter what happens, days are never lost and time is never gone in a void. Each 24-hour period in our lives is precious and can show us God’s blessings. \u00a0And I’m especially thankful that, despite the problems in my right eye, I was able to see that “through it all.”<\/p>\n

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

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

Advent. Christmas. New Year’s. Every year, they come around once a year. And we plan carefully, putting activities into narrow windows, packing them into our schedules.But often, for those of us with chronic illness and pain, we can be derailed. Sideswiped by health problems. And then, what happens to our carefully planned holiday lives? As…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[241,3,43,4],"tags":[225,2120,842,183,841,843],"class_list":["post-948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","tag-advent","tag-christmas","tag-getting-sick-at-christmas","tag-gods-love","tag-ill-at-the-holidays","tag-shingles"],"yoast_head":"\nDerailed at Holiday Time? - 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\/12\/derailed-at-holiday-time.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Derailed at Holiday Time? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Advent. Christmas. New Year’s. Every year, they come around once a year. And we plan carefully, putting activities into narrow windows, packing them into our schedules.But often, for those of us with chronic illness and pain, we can be derailed. Sideswiped by health problems. And then, what happens to our carefully planned holiday lives? As…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/12\/derailed-at-holiday-time.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-08T21:12:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-12-08T20:30:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/12\/two-candles-by-Arvind-Balaraman5-218x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Derailed at Holiday Time? - 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\/12\/derailed-at-holiday-time.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Derailed at Holiday Time? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":"Advent. Christmas. New Year’s. Every year, they come around once a year. And we plan carefully, putting activities into narrow windows, packing them into our schedules.But often, for those of us with chronic illness and pain, we can be derailed. Sideswiped by health problems. And then, what happens to our carefully planned holiday lives? As…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/12\/derailed-at-holiday-time.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2013-12-08T21:12:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-12-08T20:30:04+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/12\/two-candles-by-Arvind-Balaraman5-218x300.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/12\/derailed-at-holiday-time.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/12\/derailed-at-holiday-time.html","name":"Derailed at Holiday Time? - 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\/12\/derailed-at-holiday-time.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/12\/derailed-at-holiday-time.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/12\/two-candles-by-Arvind-Balaraman5-218x300.jpg","datePublished":"2013-12-08T21:12:28+00:00","dateModified":"2013-12-08T20:30:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/12\/derailed-at-holiday-time.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/12\/derailed-at-holiday-time.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/12\/derailed-at-holiday-time.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/12\/two-candles-by-Arvind-Balaraman5-218x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2012\/12\/two-candles-by-Arvind-Balaraman5-218x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/12\/derailed-at-holiday-time.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Derailed at Holiday Time?"}]},{"@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\/948","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=948"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":950,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948\/revisions\/950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}