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“Absolute No List”
A wonderful friend of mine who also uses these forums responded to a post I’d made about things to regularly re-evaluate as a patient living with pulmonary fibrosis (PF).
In that post I listed 3 different things that I regularly re-evaluate, and am choosing to be more intentional about as I live with this life-threatening lung disease. Unfortunately, sometimes I still try to proceed with things at the same speed that I once did before my diagnosis and I end up paying for this physically and emotionally. I cannot keep up with the things I used to do, and as a result, I need to be more intentional about where I choose to put my energy and focus these days. One of those choices is what I am willing to compromise within myself for others. I am no longer willing to compromise my physical health and forego rest or personal time for the sake of someone else. This doesn’t mean I won’t help others, I absolutely will, but it means I will put parameters around what I can offer so that I don’t burn myself out, like I have done so in the past.
I am always interested in hearing from others about how they find balance within the chaos of living with a chronic illness such as PF. As a result, I posed the question to this forum about how you find balance, and what you regularly re-evaluate in your life as a patient living with PF. That is where my friend responded and shared a wonderful explanation, including the idea of an “absolute no list”.
As he explains: “We all have Lists of goals we want to do and I found it helpful to also have a list of things that are no longer acceptable either because it increases my stress or because I end up doing something not good for me or something that I would rather spend the time doing something I like”… I love this idea!
What do you think of this idea and an ‘absolute no list’ as a patient living with IPF/PF?
What would you add to your list if it was physically written out?
I am going to give it some thought and actually write mine out and share it with you all when its done.
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2 Replies
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I have been diagnosed for a year and a half and it is a journey. I agree with the idea but still exploring what I can and shouldn’t do
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Hi Marsha,
I couldn’t agree more, this is a journey and one of ongoing learning as well. I am still learning what I can/cannot do, and what I still do but maybe shouldn’t because I pay for it later – be it physically, emotionally or mentally. Do you find the emotional and mental impact of this disease difficult to deal with? I find I have a lot more emotional ups and downs unfortunately, and when I am tired due to doing too much, the emotions really seem to be elevated. Be gentle with yourself in your exploration of what you can or shouldn’t do…
Take good care, and I look forward to hearing from you again.
Kind regards,
Charlene.
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