So you found out that you have a chronic illness. There may be a treatment plan or you might be “watchful waiting” for symptoms to show. Either way, there is something going on with your body that is out of your control. How do you continue life as you know it? How do you control the fear of not knowing what the next year or years may bring? For me, I keep Finding my Detox. In researching my latest diagnosis I came across an article that ended with the following advice:
Don’t try to ignore whatever fears you have. Let yourself feel them and then practice letting them go. Talking about them with a friend or professional often helps.
Focus on what you can do to be healthy. Exercise, eat a balanced diet, and make any other changes that would help take better care of yourself. This helps you have more sense of control.
Spend some peaceful time every day. This can be helpful even if it’s just for a few minutes. When you are stressed out, summon up the feelings you create during your peaceful time.
When I read number 3 bells were going off in my head, a loudspeaker was blaring FIND YOUR DETOX!! That is what we are trying to tell you!! Spend some peaceful time every day – we believe this is the root of managing your chronic illness. Every other recommendation from eating healthy to a good night sleep will fall into place if you Find Your Detox. Let’s look at the top reasons why we believe this to be true for someone with a chronic illness.
When you Find Your Detox you are:
- Putting yourself first. You are actively finding the time each day to engage in an activity that helps you find peace. It may be reading a book, cooking a delicious meal, running, playing mahjong with friends, taking a bicycle ride, listening to music or doing a yoga class. You are taking control of your schedule and prioritizing yourself. You are making sure that you have the time you need.
- Feeling calm. It is important to recognize the feeling of “calm and relaxed”. Your heart rate is slower, your breathing is easier, and your mind is focused on the present. When you become overwhelmed by the nagging or intrusive thoughts caused by the fears of what will be you will bring yourself back to this feeling of “calm and relaxed”.
- Disconnecting. When you have chronic illness life does not always look good in pictures. We know that on social media only the good pictures are posted. You might not have so many good pictures right now and seeing others can make your feel sad which may only increase your fear and anxiety. It is ok to take a break. Or select to the see the posts and feeds that make you happy. You can always return when you feel you are ready.
- Slowing down. Give yourself permission to say no when you feel burdened by the request. You can’t do everything and as discussed above, you need to put yourself and your health first. If your Detox is going to take 30 minutes from your day then you need to make a swap with another commitment. Make sure that when you say yes to someone you are sincere.
- Emptying your head of negative thoughts. If you start to anticipate the worst and have scary thoughts you should try to let them go. Let me explain. I recently thought I had cancer again. I started ruminating over going through chemo, again. While running one day my mind started to wander right down the rabbit hole. I said to my mind, “Go for it, what is the worst that could happen?”. I let my thoughts continue and then I said “So what?” I lose my hair, it will grow back. I need time for chemo appointments, I will reduce my workload. I earn less money during this time, I will cut down on expenses. For every fear I had, I found a reasonable answer and then I let the thought go. I literally pushed it out of my mind and said enough! By the time I finished my run that morning I came to terms with having to go through chemo.