This weekend, I did something crazy. Instead of fighting against Rheumatoid Arthritis, I let it win. I let my body rest when I felt tired, I went out when I felt good, ate when I was hungry, and worked when I felt inspired. And I took pain meds when I was hurting.
I did a lot more resting than usual. Any other weekend, I would have gulped caffeine and pushed on. There would have been tears throughout the day- from the pain, from the exhaustion. But not this weekend.
I typically push through my errands and cleaning. I am usually in an excruciating amount of pain, limping up the stairs, finding laundry to be torture. This weekend, I spaced the laundry out. I did one errand each day, rather than all at once.
Speaking of pain, I usually don’t take my heavier pain meds until the end of my day- until my list is done. As if I need to earn them. This weekend, when the pain started, I immediately took my meds. I didn’t hit any excruciating levels of pain the entire weekend. I actually said to my husband “it’s amazing how good I feel when I actually take my pain meds”. It was probably very hard for him not to say he told me so!
I am going to try my best to stop fighting my body, to stop being disappointed in what it can’t do. I am going to try to listen to it and not view myself negatively. It may take me longer to get laundry done and I can’t make a homemade meal every single night but I’m not a burden and neither is my body.