{"id":958,"date":"2013-12-18T21:02:53","date_gmt":"2013-12-18T21:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=958"},"modified":"2013-12-18T21:02:53","modified_gmt":"2013-12-18T21:02:53","slug":"chronic-illness-teetering-on-your-pedestal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/12\/chronic-illness-teetering-on-your-pedestal.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: Teetering on Your Pedestal?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Maureen<\/a>During holiday season, we come in contact with many more people than we usually do. In the course of our conversations, we probably talk about the health challenges we’ve endured throughout the year-almost-past (or, at least some of them). \u00a0And, perhaps, the person with whom we’re speaking says something like, “Oh, you’re so strong!’ or “Oh, you’re incredible – you handle those challenges so well.” Or, the “topper” – “I could never cope as well as you do…”<\/p>\n

I learned long ago that the best way to take a compliment is to simply say, “Thank you.” But so often, when someone says they admire the way I take on my own health challenges, inside, I cringe a little. \u00a0Not that I don’t strive to be as good as I possibly can be, and not that I don’t believe to my core that God is guiding me, encouraging me, and comforting me along my journey. But, I’m only human, as is each person who lives with chronic illness. And, sometimes, well, we teeter on our pedestals!<\/p>\n

Proverbial teetering might include suddenly becoming frustrated with medication that takes too long to work, or a body that doesn’t do all that we’d like it to do. It might mean actually getting irritated or out-right angry that we have to change or cancel plans to do something we’ve really looked forward to \u00a0– because of an illness that flares or a new symptom that arises.<\/p>\n

Frustration at the fits and starts we experience while getting ready to step outside our front door. Aggravation that brain fog interferes with our ability to remember important details (or names). Overall, bone-numbing fatigue that can drive us to tears when the days and nights seem achingly long.<\/p>\n

All of these things are part and parcel of our reaction to an ongoing life with illness. And they indicate that we are, as I said, human. And, they also go right along with the other courageous things we do to cope, to shine with God’s light, and to be the best we can be with all that we are given.<\/p>\n

When someone says, “You are so brave,” you might cringe, at first, and think that you are anything but. You know how you feel “behind the scenes,” and it often doesn’t reflect the makings of a super-hero. But – and this is important to remember – \u00a0the person offering the compliment\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>seeing in you someone they admire, someone who is striving.<\/p>\n

So, as we teeter, we also need to remember that we’re doing some things very right, and showing others that it is possible to have faith along the difficult walk we take each day.<\/p>\n

Yes, we teeter – but we do not fall!<\/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. 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