Why Do We Think We Can Do More Than We Are Capable Of? Why Don’t We Just Listen To Our Bodies?

How often do you tell yourself , “I should be doing such and such” or ” I’d better do this or that” ?

We all do it. It’s like we are programmed from birth to constantly have a catalogue of, “should do, must do, better do”, all filed in the front of our minds for easy reach.

I’m as guilty as the next person. Even though my body can hardly do anything, I still give myself these messages. It’s ludicrous!!

Chronic Illness Comes With Chronic Restrictions

If diagnosed with a “Chronic illness” it means you have something ongoing. It’s life changing. It may be life changing to varying degrees for each of us, but you can guarantee, in the majority of cases, how you used to live is no longer going to be possible.

Yet, despite this knowledge, we still allow ourselves to be drawn into a conversation with our healthy alter ego that goes something like this;

“I’ll just do that extra load of washing today, come on, just push through”.

“Oh I can easily have my friends visit for morning tea and squeeze in my blood tests in the afternoon. No worries at all”

When we were able-bodied and healthy, tiredness was probably the worst we had to contend with. It’s not the case anymore.

Chronic illness comes with chronic restrictions. It’s as simple as that.
Sam Moss

In the written form, this sentence sounds so logical and simple, but to change a lifelong behaviour of pushing through is incredibly difficult.

Why Don’t We Just Listen To Our Bodies?

Listening to our bodies when chronically ill means we need to accept that we are not capable of doing what we used to do. No one wants to admit defeat. We all want to feel empowered and free.

Ironically if we do accept our disease and the restraints it places on us, we will eventually feel the sense of control we are seeking.

While we continually give ourselves denial messages of, ” just push through, I’ll be fine”, we are increasing the restraints our disease is trying to inflict.

We are crippling our bodies more than necessary. It really doesn’t make much sense to continue to push beyond our limits if you stop and think about it.

We end up in a vicious cycle of more pain, tiredness and other worsening symptoms. All of which remove more and more control over our daily lives.

So how can we help ourselves?

Our Bodies Key Messages

Our bodies give us key messages every day. Pain and fatigue are perhaps the two key indicators we need to watch out for. When they present and begin to increase, it’s time to listen, stop, review and adjust.

Let’s explore each of those categories a little closer.

Listen

My pain is constant but it does have varying levels. I have base pain, intermediate pain and severe pain.

At my base level, I can function around the home doing a little cleaning, like dusting, making cups of tea, doing admin work, writing, managing my forum, and online volunteer work. I can also go out occasionally for an hour for a coffee with my husband, I can more easily get to medical appointments, etc. At this level, I must have morning and afternoon rest periods, lying flat on the bed, and I can’t be on my legs for longer than 30 mins at a time.

At my intermediate level, I need to reduce my cleaning tasks to things like loading the dishwasher, avoid sitting at my computer to do admin tasks, and increase my bedrest sessions from 30 mins to 60 mins. I can still manage my forum, do my volunteer work for Arthritis Queensland online, and write while resting. I can only be on my legs for 10 mins at a time.

At my severe pain level, I need to rest for the majority of the day. I can look after my basic hygiene, I might be able to write a little while resting, but interacting with others and managing my forum is more difficult.

I have learned (the hard way) to listen to my body when it gives me the warning signs that I’m moving from basic to intermediate to my severe pain/disease activity level.

Stop

I’m sure most of us with Chronic Illness do listen to our bodies, but listening without taking some kind of action isn’t going to help us take control.

Stopping is the first action required. What I mean by stopping is just taking a little time to sit, so you can work out what’s going on and what you need to do about it.

A good stopping action is to put the kettle on and make a cup of tea or coffee. Taking a much needed breather with my favourite activity, of enjoying a perfect cuppa in my favourite mug, just brings such a sense of calm. I feel centred and ready to think more clearly.

Review

Once I’ve stopped for a moment and I’m sitting down sipping that relaxing cuppa, it’s time to review.

Ask yourself some key questions at this point.

What just happened to make you stop?
How did/do you feel?
Are you overdoing it?
Can you re-schedule your day?
Is what you were doing really necessary? (Be very honest here)
If you take a longer rest period will it help you recover more quickly?
Are your increase in symptoms due to overdoing it, or do you need to seek medical advice?
Are you telling yourself “I should be doing….”?
Can you tell yourself “No, I shouldn’t” ?
Do you want to feel more in control of your disease?

Adjust

We can listen, stop and review as much as we like but unless we adjust our activities nothing will change.

Once you’ve gone through the review process, take action straight away based on your answers to the key questions.

I can almost guarantee, if you do, you will feel immediate relief in terms of well-being. You will feel like you are back in the driver’s seat. Yes your disease has placed restrictions on you. Yes you are in pain or dealing with other kinds of symptoms, but you have taken control.

By listening, stopping, reviewing and adjusting, you have improved your situation. In fact you have probably ensured activities you want or need to do, later in the week, will actually have a good chance of happening.

Should You?…No, You Shouldn’t!

So next time you find yourself talking to your healthy alter ego and you hear the words, ” I Should, I Better, I Have to do it”, remember there is only one response.

It’s the response that puts you back in control. The response which is full of wisdom and will empower you. It’s the response which ensures you will be successful in living well with your chronic illness.

The response to “I Have To Do…..” is simply, “No I Really Don’t”

Take care

Sam

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:34

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