5 Things Living with UC Has Taught Me

Last week my husband and I went on a well-earned vacation to the beach. After working for 10 straight months without more than a couple of days off we decided to do something that we don't do often enough - we did nothing. Okay, we ate, we laid on the beach, we swam in the ocean, and we walked along the shoreline, but other than that, and sleeping, we didn't do a darn thing (hence, the reason you didn't see a blog from me last week). It was wonderful.

Over the past ten years since my Ulcerative Colitis diagnosis I've learned quite a few things about myself and about how I want to live my life.

1. Learning to do nothing and to not feel guilty for doing nothing is one thing that has come to serve me quite well. I grew up in a family where doing nothing or daydreaming wasn't necessarily advocated. So, as I grew up and moved into living my own life I'd always been a person who had to be doing something in order to feel that my days had been productive and well used, even being sick with the flu or a cold could make me feel guilty for wasting time. So, when my first UC flare hit, and it hit big-time, in addition to dealing with the physical symptoms I also found myself battling my emotions and my feelings that I was wasting time by being sick. For some, this might help them to feel better, for me it only made me stressed and the stress only seemed to make my symptoms worse. Through the help of a psychologist and a Reiki master I was able to become comfortable with the concept of making and taking time for me. Time to do what I wanted or didn't want to do. Realizing that if I wasn't happy and healthy I wasn't going to be able to make those around me happy either. Over the years, I've worked quite hard on learning to do nothing and not feel guilty about it. It's still a hard thing for me to always be able to let go and do, but when I can, like last week at the beach, I find I'm both physically and mentally happier and healthier.

2. On the flip side of learning to do nothing, I've also learned to pick and choose how to use my energy (which at times is limited) for what I want and need to do. I've made drastic changes in my life, and this includes my professional life as well. After my first UC flare I was virtually forced to have to leave what was a successful career, albeit one fraught with extreme stress, long days and weeks, and little to no tolerance for UC flare-ups and frequent bathroom calls. At first, the career change was very hard both from a work and an ego stand-point. But I can actually say today that I am a happier and healthier person, although a little poorer, than when I was working in my previous profession.

3. Eating and living a healthier life style wasn't a tough call for me but one that I might not have made so readily if it hadn't been for UC. That first UC flare-up really made me look at what I was eating and how it was affecting me and my body. I went through an elimination diet (you can see my description of this here) and was able to identify foods that were problems for me and have now formulated a diet of foods that make me feel my best. I added yoga to my life as well as meditation and Reiki, and regular exercise. I'm probably a healthier person today than I was B.C. - before colitis.