Distractions have real value in RA!

     We were back in my hometown of State College, PA not long ago, spending the weekend with family, friends and 110,000 of our closest friends at a Penn State football game.  Despite my digestive maladies and RA issues, it was so wonderful to get away and enjoy the spectacle that IS big time college football!  

     To be united in support of our Nittany Lions, cheering, singing our school Alma Mater and fight songs is so energizing and just plain fun it makes me smile for weeks afterward when I think back on what a terrific day it was. 
Of course sharing that with our family and seeing everyone again is a large part of the joy.

     Which brings me to the point of this post.....distractions get a bad rap in most instances.  We tend to view them as something that takes us away from our intended goal or task and towards something that is a waste of time and focus.

To be fair, there are many bad distractions - in the workplace, in our cars, and so on.  We all know the ones that pull us away from important tasks - like working and driving!  
     Good distractions, however, are those that take our minds off of heavy issues, intense thoughts, illness and chronic diseases like RA.  I am not suggesting that we succumb to distraction to the point of neglecting our health or the necessary items we need to attend to in order to successfully manage RA.

     What I am recommending is that we take a "timeout" now and then.  Let go of the burden of dealing with the day to day  "stuff" that makes up our lives with RA and just allow our minds and bodies to be "distracted".  For me that meant a weekend away - from work, from home, from the worry that really does weigh on all of us who are managing RA and the other "sidebars" that go with it.  It is so easy to get into a pattern of never ending worry about our health.  I find myself often waiting for the next "shoe to drop" as I am certain it will.

      Allowing ourselves the luxury of a good distraction now and then is just what we need to break that cycle of worry that often is one of the hallmarks of RA.

     I never thought of myself as much of a "worrier" pre-RA but since getting it I have noticed that I am much more inclined to worry and "stew" over things than in the past.  While some of that may just be age, mother of three boys, etc. I do believe that having a chronic disease is part of it.  
     Which leads me to the facts about worrying.

     When you really take it apart it seems so sensible to just let our worry go...if only it were that easy. That said, here is where the "good distractions" can really serve us well!  If we allow ourselves to step away and really let go of our day to day concerns it will, in the long run, replenish our minds, spirits and bodies to be better able to handle the "real" issues we face and need our strength to contend with.  

     Each of us knows in our hearts when it is time to take that time off and/or welcome that "good distraction".  Trust your instincts to guide you to that place of peace and contentment.  If it means being surrounded by 110,000 screaming fans then go for it!  I did!

Nan