Arthritis doesn’t come with a rulebook, but it might as well. Most people talk about rules like eating well, going to work on time and getting enough sleep, but none of the consequences for these can be as serious and immediate as doing something bad for your arthritis. Since I have arthritis in most of my joints and I also have a lot of food allergies related to my arthritis, I have more rules than I can count. Sometimes it feels like I am a slave to my body. When I add in rules about eating healthy and being a generally good employee/friend/wife/daughter it feels like I live a more rigid life then a criminal in prison.
Sometimes, I get overwhelmed with responsibility and it can feel like what I want/need is irrelevant because there is only one right course of action. So what do I do? Break the rules! Sure, there are a lot of rules I can’t break, but there are some I can break or bend without too much consequence.
Stay up late and watch a show/visit/play a game. Most times, when it is 10:30, I go to sleep no matter what. However, some days my frustration with responsibility lines up with something I really want to do (like start a Glee episode even though it is 10:15). So what do I do? DO IT. It may be TV, a game, or even a really good conversation in bed with my husband, but whatever it is, sometimes I need that more than I need to sleep at that moment. Staying up 1 hour late isn’t going to kill me and then I rearrange the next day so I can nap or go to bed early to compensate.
Eat that extra 100 calorie candy bar – Now, I am not suggesting going hog wild. Weight and arthritis are enemies and maintaining at least a reasonable weight will help your joints stay healthy and recover from injuries. However, will a 100 calorie Butterfinger kill you? No! Assess your mental state and if you find you really need a treat, then have one. In general, breaking the rules is fine. When eating the extra Butterfinger becomes the rule, then you have to recalibrate. For advice on healthy eating for those of you who struggle with weight a lot or a little, check out this great blog I found: http://liveitouteveryday.blogspot.com/.
Do a little extra something that will only tire you out a bit. For me this is sometimes video games. My hands get flared up easily, so I have to be careful, but if I play a little extra one day, it will be fine as long as I am okay with taking a lighter day the next day so that they rest. As long as you know the consequences and are willing to do when you have to to keep everything healthy, bending an arthritis rule now and then is okay and helps to keep you feeling like you are in control rather than your arthritis.
There are other treats that help vent the pressure of living with arthritis. You can take a day off work, not clean your dishes for a day, or bail on a commitment you have to go to but don’t want to. For me, bending or breaking some rules makes it so much easier for me to cope with the millions of other decisions where I don’t have much flexibility.
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