My daily checklist

I don't know about you, but when I'm not feeling well I just want to curl up on the couch and watch TV or sleep until the symptoms are gone. This is a decent way to handle an acute illness like a cold or the flu because the body does need to rest in order to for the immune system to do it's job. However, when you are dealing with a chronic health condition like I am - spending every day on the couch is not going to help me feel better. In fact, it often makes me feel worse because of all the things that fall by the wayside.

Learning how to cope and take care of yourself, your home, your family and maybe even your work responsibilities when you have a chronic condition is really tough. It's easy to get caught up in a mode of "I'll put it off until tomorrow or until I feel better" and months may go by before it happens. So I have devised a couple of tricks to help me be productive in harmony with my condition, rather than working against myself! One of my favorite ways is my daily checklist.

I have a little whiteboard up on the wall in my bedroom where I see it several times a day. At the top I wrote "Love Yourself Today", and along the left in bright colors I made a checklist of daily goals. Some days it's really a stretch to check off everything on the list, but I like the challenge and reminder to take care of myself and my obligations. My goals encompass self-care, daily household tasks, and projects.

My daily checklist looks something like this:

• Make the bed and open the blinds
• See or talk to someone who cares about me
  
• Cuddle with the cats
• Go for a 15 minute walk
  
• Do one - two chores around the house
  
• Yoga and PT exercises
• Take meds on time
• Eat healthy meals and snacks
• Spend time on X project
• Read and respond to email and voice mail
  
• Take stretch breaks
• Get some sunshine and leave the house
• Meditate
• Go to bed by 11pm
  

This list might seem silly if you're not dealing with a chronic health condition and have energy to get through a full day. Although, I recall that when I had a busy schedule it was especially hard to fit in "me" time before the day was over. So I think a daily self-care checklist can be a fun way to prioritize and take care of yourself no matter how you are feeling!

Three simple steps for well-being

Hey there!

I've spent a good amount of time online researching chronic pain over the past year to find better ways to cope and manage it. Quite frankly, I'm pretty disappointed with the material out there. There are books that get technical about what happens in the body, and others that talk about medication management - but I haven't found any good ones on how to maintain a sense of well-being and joy while dealing with the burden of chronic pain. So after awhile, I turned decided to follow the wisdom of my favorite quote:

If you find not what you seek within, you will never find it without.

So, I meditated and tuned in to my inner voice about how best to maintain well-being under the challenging circumstances. I found three specific steps to take each time I feel pain or discomfort.

1. Stop what you're doing
   
2. Listen to your body and heart to find out what is needed
   
3. Respond with a loving act
   

So what does that mean exactly?

The first step is pretty easy. As soon as I notice new discomfort or pain - I pause what I'm doing to give it my attention. I check out what I'm sensing and "listen" to my body and heart for cues as to what I need. Am I hungry? Is it time for medication? Am I stiff? tired? tense? upset? lonely? frustrated? etc... Once I figure out what is going on, I respond to the pain or discomfort message from my body with a loving act.

A loving act could be any of the actions I could take to directly address the message from my body. A loving act might be taking medication or a nap. It might be doing stretching or yoga or listening to a guided meditation CD on visualizing pain away. It might be calling a friend or making a date for coffee because I'm lonely. It might be calling a doctor or pharmacist to address a concern. It might be scheduling a Reiki session or a massage to give my body some positive attention. It might be asking someone for help. The idea is to respond to the messages from my body in a nurturing way, rather than letting myself sink into a cycle of frustration at my body, helplessness and depression about being in pain.

Since I've started following these steps - I've noticed that my quality of life has improved drastically. This is mostly due to my outlook shifting from feeling like a victim of circumstances outside my control to feeling empowered, valued and loved as I do kind, gentle and nurturing things for myself. While I use these steps to deal with chronic pain, I bet they would be useful under many circumstances - perhaps even every day life. Feel free to try them out!