• Proactive Health Steps Right Now Chronic Illness 1
    Blog,  Etc,  Faith,  Health,  Write

    Things I’m Doing For My Health Right Now

    I’m a huge advocate of being proactive when it comes to your health, so I today I’m sharing some of the ways I’m doing this right now.

    Lately, I’ve had the feeling that no matter what I do for my health, it feels kind of futile. That’s one of the sucky things about being chronically ill—you can do all the right things, and still be, well, chronically ill. Plus, I’ve been dealing with the cold weather (one of my triggers), health set backs, and—oh joy—new symptoms. It’s frustrating and ironic when your health is one of the things keeping you from being proactive about your health.

    Thus, this blog post. I thought it would be helpful to record the ways I can be proactive about my health, and how these actions do help, even if just in a small way.

    Some of the items on my list may look a little random, or not the kind of things you would associate with “health.” Most of these things aren’t specific to helping any one health condition, like my dysautonomia, fibromyalgia, asthma, autoimmune disease, ME/CFS, etc. But I’ve been trying to pay attention to what is zapping my energy or causing me stress. Viewing a problem as an opportunity to improve my health helps in two ways: 1) this helps me clarify a goal (less energy output or stress) and 2) this helps motivate me to make positive changes (by reminding me that this is important to my overall wellbeing). This clarity and motivation is enough to break through my brain fog and exhaustion so that I’m able to work on my health.

    My hope is that this post will help you take a look at what you’re doing for your own wellness, or inspire you to think of new ways you can include more self care in your life. And when you make that list, I hope your reaction is similar to mine: I might be limited in what I can do for my health right now, but I’m doing the best I can.

  • “For me, blogging was a way to break out of the restraints my chronic illness has put on me. Blogging has been so meaningful and brought back a sense of purpose to my life that had gone missing when I became so sick.” Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Blogging And Why You Should Blog Before You’re “Ready.” Tips I learned in my first year of blogging with chronic illness, and thoughts on why beginning bloggers don’t need to know everything. In fact, it might be best to just go for it! Here are some of the things no one told me about blogging, and why I think you should start blogging now. | cassiecreley.com
    Blog,  Etc,  Write

    Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Blogging And Why You Should Blog Before You’re “Ready”

    As promised in my round up about my first year blogging, I’m sharing tips I wish I had known from the beginning of my blogging journey. Be assured, this post isn’t to dissuade you from starting your blog. In fact, I think you should start a blog before you’re “ready,” and I’ll explain why.

    On my Facebook page, I asked if anyone had questions about my first year blogging. One of the questions was: “What was your reason for starting a blog?” Answering this question is the perfect background for why I think you should start blogging before you’re totally sure what you’re doing.

    One of the topics I blog about is dealing with chronic illnesses. I have several, and they’ve become progressively worse the last several years. The first one to get diagnosed was thyroid cancer. These illnesses have threatened to squash my dreams of being a published author. I think the first time I said I wanted to write books, I was in kindergarten (and then I promptly wrote a book for a friend and a play that my friend and I acted out while my dad taped us on the camcorder.) It’s been one of my dreams ever since.

    Despite becoming more sick, I was (and am) determined to keep writing. As you might have guessed, it’s kind of hard to finish writing a book when you struggle just to function during the day! And while I’ve published a handful of poems, I’ve not yet gotten a book out into the world. I started to feel frustrated. Even when I pushed myself to write, my words just stayed stuck on my computer. I felt like I wasn’t accomplishing anything. No one was reading a single word I wrote, unless it was a kind friend or family member offering to look over a story.

  • Superpowers You Gain From Chronic Illness and Chronic Pain—Some humorous examples, as well as some that really are superpowers we could use more of. | cassiecreley.com
    Health

    Superpowers You Gain From Chronic Illness and Chronic Pain

    Just for fun, I thought I’d write a post about all the “superpowers” we (unintentionally) gain when we develop chronic health conditions.

    My massage therapist and I joke that I fight crime in my sleep. It’s a much more fun explanation for why my muscles freak out (the real reason: fibromyalgia). We joke that this is why I have brain fog too—I’m so deep undercover that *I* don’t even know that I’m a secret super hero, so I must be getting my memory wiped every morning. Sounds legit.

    This got me thinking that, hey, those of us in the spoonie community really do have our own set of superpowers. And no radioactive spiders are even required! (Thankfully, because I hate spiders…and as for radioactive—been there, done that!)

    I hope you enjoy these tongue-in-cheek examples of our superpowers. Because in all seriousness, each of you are fighters to get through each day with chronic illness and chronic pain.

  • Letting God Choose Your Word, Verse or, Theme for the Year – Why I started praying about what God wants to speak over your upcoming new year. | cassiecreley.com
    Faith

    Letting God Choose A Word For The Year

    In the past, I have resisted choosing a word for the year because it has always seemed so arbitrary. I’ve seen other people do that, and then they seem frustrated when the random word they chose hasn’t magically panned out over the year. It almost seems like setting yourself up for failure to decide the year will be a certain thing, and then get disappointed when it isn’t. Especially if that word is a vague hope, vs. a goal you work towards.

    But a few years ago, I listened to a podcast by the Ransomed Heart team about letting God choose your word/verse/theme for the year. (Here’s this year’s podcast on that topic.)

    I found this perspective so refreshing and have enjoyed praying about what word and Bible verse God has for me each new year since. It has been a great practice for growing closer to God and bringing my plans and hopes for the year to Him.

  • To The Christian Who Feels Sad at Christmas-Tips for physical and spiritual self care during the holidays. | cassiecreley.com
    Blog,  Faith

    To the Christian Who Feels Sad at Christmastime—Here’s What’s Helping Me

    We’re getting real on the blog today.

    I want talk about struggling with feelings of sadness around Christmas, something that can impact anyone, not only those of us with chronic illness.

    In a way, this feels a bit like a taboo subject. I kind of worry about admitting to this struggle out of fear that people will think I’m not grateful for all Christmas represents (it is Jesus’ birthday after all!) or that my sadness means I somehow dislike Christmas (which certainly is not the case!)

    I’ve struggled over the past several holiday seasons, and a lot of it has had to do with getting used to my limitations due to chronic illness. Christmas is one of my favorite holidays, so in addition to struggling with not feeling happy, I’m also struggling with not feeling quite like myself. My love for Christmas is a part of who I am, so this sadness is yet another way my chronic illnesses impact my identity.

    And I think as Christians we can sometimes feel pressure to feel or act happy 24/7, so feeling sad this time of year adds another layer of complexity—I feel guilty about it!

  • A Gift Guide Based On Your Chronically Ill Friend’s Love Language—Giving meaningful gifts helps our friends and loved ones feel seen and understood. Here are ideas for sharing gifts with someone with a chronic illness. These recommendations are great for Christmas, birthdays, just because, etc.
    Health

    A Chronic Illness Gift Guide Based On Love Language

    Gifts are extra-special if you gear them towards your friend or loved one’s love language. I’ve compiled ideas to help you do just that in this chronic illness gift guide! 

    Those of us with all the complexities and uncertainties of chronic illness can often feel misunderstood and even invisible, so it’s especially meaningful when you take the time to tailor a gift for us.

    As I mentioned in my post about easy, low-cost gift ideas, picking a gift based on someone’s love language helps them to feel seen and understood.

  • 10 of my favorite health care products, especially for chronic illness - cassiecreley.com
    Health

    10 Of My Favorite Health Care Products

    It’s hard to know what health care products are worth the investment. Especially if you have a chronic illness, it’s difficult to know where to choose to spend money because there are so many options out there and so many potentials to waste money on less-than-helpful products.

    I’m sharing the products that have helped me most so you don’t have to discover them by trial and error like I did.