We are always
fighting an unseen battle with our illnesses. It’s a battle that the medical
community doesn’t see, but our families experience first hand. If you are
anything like me, just keeping up with day-to-day tasks deplete everything in
your reservoir of energy. By midday, I’m ready to crawl back into bed!
That leaves the
burning question - How do we manage the symptoms of our illness, and our
everyday lives?
The answer isn’t
quite as simple as one would think. The truth is, management is where we have
the power to minimize any type of control that our illness has over our
everyday life. Properly managing our lives can result in a higher quality of
living, and a better life for us and the ones that love us. But, we have to set
ourselves up for success in this process.
What
are some examples of day-to-day management?
1.
Create a daily
routine (examples: set a time to shower, take your medication, brush your
teeth, set a daily cleaning schedule, etc...)
2.
Utilize the “15
Minute Power Clean” when tackling domestic duties. Clean as much as you can for
15 Minutes then take a break. For me, I clean for 15 minutes, and during that
15 minutes, I put in a load of laundry, or load the dishwasher. At the end of
the cycle, I can start my next 15 minutes of “power cleaning” by dealing with
the laundry or dishes first. Use the rest of the 15 minutes to tackle other
domestic chores as time allows.
3.
Set some time
aside each day to learn more about your illness. Watch a documentary, read a
book, do a workbook, or journal your feelings & thoughts. Knowledge can
help us to reduce the effects that our illness have on our lives. (Caution:
Choose reliable sources, and be sure to know how much exposure to this type of
information that you can take. Don’t force anything. Be gentle!)
Also, we have to
know our limitations and our strengths.
For example, I
have found that one of my limitations is focus. My illness (PTSD) is very
difficult to manage. However, because I experienced childhood physical neglect,
I have to keep a clean house in order to reduce triggers, and desensitize my
environment from stimuli (aka clutter).
This is an example of where our illness may actually prevent us from
living a healthier lifestyle when it is not properly managed.
In addition, I
have found that one of my strengths is working in short bursts of activity. I
can tackle a wide variety of projects working in 15 minute increments. This
works in my life to reduce my triggers, and promotes a healthy environment!
What are your
strengths and weakness? How do you make them work for you?
I think we all
would agree that we all have struggles in managing our lives while living with
illness, but we don’t have to live in defeat! I hope that we all find ways to
manage our illness that will promote happy and healthy lives!
About the Author: Priscilla Fowler
Priscilla Fowler
is a wife, writer, and adult survivor of childhood abuse living with Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder. As founder of Blissful Wife Ministries, she promotes
healthy marriages for people with a broken past. She holds a Bachelor of
Science degree in Political Science from the University of Tennessee at Martin.
She is a legislative advocate for those with mental illness, and is very active
in her local chapter of NAMI.
Priscilla writes
(almost) daily at http://www.blissfulwife.com.
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