Beyond IBD: transcending chronic illness

My Nanowrimo novelling adventure continues and it is going well!

Normal posting on beyondibd.com will resume in December but in the meantime here are two very useful reminders about how our choices can increase or decrease our stress levels.

Some of these seem like common sense, others are a little more surprising (so I am allowed to do nothing and not feel guilty about it?!?). I find it useful to refer back to these sorts of checklists from time to time, and notice where my thinking may be working against me (be your own best friend, not your worse enemy!).

Ten commandments for reducing stress:

1. Thou shalt not be perfect, nor even try to be
2. Thou shalt not try to be all things to all people
3. Thou shalt leave things undone that ought to be done
4. Thou shalt not spread thyself too thinly
5. Thou shalt learn to say ‘no’
6. Thou shalt schedule time for thyself, and thy supportive network
7. Thou shalt switch off and do nothing regularly
8. Thou shalt be boring, untidy, inelegant and unattractive… at times
9. Thou shalt not feel guilty
10. Especially, thou shalt not be thine own worse enemy but be thy own best friend

From The Now Habit by Neil Fiore

“Grant me the stubbornness to struggle against things I cannot change; the inertia to avoid work on my own behaviours and attitudes which I can change; and the foolishness to ignore the difference between external events beyond my control and my own controllable reactions. But most of all, grant me a contempt for my own human imperfections and the limits of human control.”

• Are you trying to do too much? (Part 2)
• Do you have trouble starting and maintaining good health habits?
• Do you have trouble starting and maintaining good health habits? (Part 2)
• Sleeping your way to better health
• When armchair experts attack!