As we head into a holiday weekend for those of us in the U.S., many are thinking of summer fun: barbeque cookouts, picnics, pool time, visiting with relatives, traveling, etc.
Holidays can also be an emotionally challenging, if not painful, time for chronically ill patients. Sometimes friends and relatives can have expectations of their chronically ill loved ones that are not realistic.
A chronically ill patient/chronic pain patient (endometriosis induced or otherwise) often cannot "keep up" with healthy peers on everything expected of them.
This can cause hard feelings, misunderstandings, tension, and isolation.
Some chronically ill patients push themselves HARD to "keep up" with "everyone else". Others lie low and avoid holiday visits because they find them too draining. Others are somewhere in the middle.
Self-care is very important! LISTEN to your body. If your body gives you signs and symptoms that it's hurting or tired, perhaps you may wish to modify your plans to fit your body's capabilities. Be flexible. The world will not come to an end if you don't "make everyone happy". In fact, making "everyone" happy is quite impossible. You can't please everyone.
Be true to yourself. Know your limits. Know when to quit. What fun is overdoing over the holidays and then paying for it for weeks (or more) afterwards?
Learning how to pace yourself can be a challenge. Gain support for yourself from other patients with the same or related illnesses. This can be from face-to-face support groups, emails exchanged, phone calls, instant messaging/chat rooms, message boards, blogs like this, etc. Suffering in silence isn't healthy. If you reach out to find even one person who "gets it", it will be well worth the time/energy invested.
For those of you who are about to celebrate the holiday weekend in the U.S., try to implement strategies that encourage self-care. For those elsewhere around the world (and I notice from my live traffic map that this number is growing!), it doesn't take a holiday to cause people to display unrealistic expectations of chronically ill patients. Assert yourself when needed. Being polite but firm & honest about your limitations can make things easier (or harder) in the short run, depending on with whom you are interacting. Doing this almost always works out better in the long run, though.
Don't be afraid to say "no thank you... I can't make it" if an activity is beyond your limits. You can't please everyone.
Please have a happy and safe holiday weekend and find something (just about anything) that brings you joy and do it/use it). Don't feel guilty if you worry people will "judge you".
For those who are traveling, try not to overdo things and travel safely this holiday weekend.
Self-care is so crucial to managing chronic illneses.
This article was posted by Jeanne via "Jeanne's Endo Blog" at www.endendoat.blogspot.com.
Showing posts with label The Spoon Theory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Spoon Theory. Show all posts
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