Whether your struggle is chronic illness or you are struggling with life's everyday challenges let me start by saying, "Me to".
It's been about 2 years now that I have been on a good path with my continued healing/maintaining. I am now a functioning Lyme patient, able to do life most of the time while standing on two feet. This is a welcome change! But it's amazing how easily I can fall back to the old habits that lead to the severity of of my illness in the first place. Its' the pit fall of being a type A, perfectionist, must please everyone, kind of person.
So now you know.
I don't have it all together.
Nor will I ever.
Which means I have to be committed to loving myself, my mistakes, my weaknesses as much as I embrace my strengths. I'm working on it. Actively. I want to create healthier patterns that will make for a long term "healthy" me. So I have decided that instead of focusing so much on all my self help healing books and all the "new" things (there are always new things) I must try to fix this chronic illness, instead I am going to focus on healthier patterns.
When I've made this my focus in the past, I was always at my healthiest.
This morning Proverbs 3 vs 21-24 summed it up:
21 My child, don't lose sight of good planning and insight. Hang on to them, 22 for they fill you with life and bring you honor and respect. 23 They keep you safe on your way and keep your feet from stumbling. 24 You can lie down without fear and enjoy pleasant dreams.
I need a plan. A plan that holds me securely to the patterns that equal success. Success for me is defined by being the healthiest I can be... first for myself (that's the hard part), then for my husband, children, family and friends and lastly for the work God has called me to.
Health. For a chronically ill person that is hard to define. There is never a day without a symptom or reminder that I live in a broken body that cannot keep up with, well, most everyone. Problem is, my mind is alive, healthy (even with Lyme brain) and is not often willing to listen to its broken counterpart. I am thankful for that strong mind. It kept me alive, saved my life and allowed me to learn how to HOPE (but that's a blog for another day ;).
What I need to do now is put that strong mind to work and search after wisdom, balance and that "happy place" that leads to my definition of success. The tricky part is, that never happens by accident. Good planning is the only thing that ever gets us anywhere we truly want to be. Bad planning leaves us wandering, lost, overwhelmed and unproductive.
My chronic illness leaves me with limitations. I hate that word. But to be honest, we all have them. We do better when we embrace them as "healthy boundaries". When we start creating healthy boundaries in our lives we must also be ready to disappoint some people. I cannot be everything to everyone or I will be nothing to those who are my priority.
So "No, I wont be able to make it" and "No, I cannot take that on right now" have to become daily verb-age for me. These are hard words for us "people pleasers". But I am planning to start using them because I want to succeed. No explanation needed. Explanations are exhausting and my need to always give one is a weakness. I want to be healthy. Period.
So today I join a challenge group that is going to help me with the planning part. I am excited for the support. It will provide that "good insight". This planning and insight are there to produce the healthy, balanced patterns I need for success.
My priorities/healthy plans are:
Find time with God daily.
Eat clean.
Exercise regularly.
Place boundaries around my active hours of the day.
Have fun with my family and friends.
Rest.
These healthy patterns are simple. Life giving. They are my tools for success. I will place them first in my life...everything else will have to pencil in an appointment.
If you need me, I'll be resting easily with my "pleasant dreams" (Prov 4:24)...and now that I have put it out in blogger world, you can hold me to it :)
