3 Things You Need To Stop Doing Immediately

As people living with chronic conditions, we tend to live with a lot more stressors than everyone else. We have the stress of managing homes, raising kids, doing chores on top of medical bills, insurance worries, new medications. The list goes on. We really don't need any more stressors in our lives, so why do we tend to add so many on our own?

We have enough worries without being so caught up on being perfect. Worrying about living up to society's standards of where we should be in life, what we should do, how we should dress, etc. We hold ourselves to these unrealistic expectations and then become disappointed when we don't reach them. IBD is already a difficult condition to live with. We already have to deal with the constant fear of a flare. The constant worry that comes along with living with an autoimmune disease. We don't need any more added stress. How about instead of these unrealistic expectations, heavy workloads and crazy requirements, we work to make our lives easier? Can you imagine what our lives would be like if we gave ourselves permission to just live? NOT according to anyone else's standards, just on our own.

These are 3 Things You Need To Stop Doing Immediately

1. Letting your condition win: Don't let IBD win. You're much stronger than that. IBD is tough, but so are you. Give yourself permission to feel. Allow yourself to release your emotions, but don't let your condition get the best of you. Don't allow your condition to break your hope or happiness. It's hard living with a condition so stigmatized and yet so mysterious. It's hard living with less than pretty symptoms. It's hard when people assume they know anything about your condition when all they seem to do is add to the (already) never-ending list of misconceptions. But don't let that get you down. Find your hope. Find your reason to smile. Remind yourself every day of what you have to live for. Then, live.
2. Comparing yourself: Don't compare yourself to anyone. Sure, you may not look like that girl on the Slimfast commercial or the guy on the extreme sports video. But you're not supposed to. You're supposed to look like you. IBD causes a lot of issues with our appearance. Our weight fluctuates, our bodies change. That's okay. It's okay to be different. You're unique. Imagine what the world would be like if everyone was the same. If no one had a scar or blemish. Sounds pretty boring to me!
3. Being so hard on yourself: Don't hold yourself to unrealistic standards. Don't set yourself up for failure. It's okay to be imperfect. It's okay to allow yourself to fail. It's okay to not be good at everything. It's okay to take more time to do things. It's also okay to not be able to do something at all. All of this is okay. There's no "How To" guide on how to live life. Especially not IBD. Just try your hardest. Do your best. The rest will fall into place.