Each time I suffer a setback with this disease, I have learned something. I thought I had learned this lesson long ago, but I guess I was wrong and just needed a real BIG reminder.  It is easy for me at times, to slip back into some bad habits and that is exactly what I did.  In a unsuccessful attempt once again to be supermom, I managed to work myself into a flare.  For me it has always been almost second nature to focus on my kids and my family at the expense of myself.  I want the best of everything for my kids and I want to be able to do it all with them.  This is where I get the most joy in my life.  So saying I need to rest or that I have scheduled too much and need to pare back things is something that I have had the hardest time with. I don’t want to miss a minute with them and sometimes that is just what I need to do to recharge my batteries and take care of my rheumatoid arthritis.

I have a wonderful husband and 3 amazing boys who help me with anything and everything that I ask.  My oldest son is always one to lend my his elbow whenever we come upon some uneven terrain without my even asking.  As much as I love them, they are not clairvoyant and can’t possibly know all that I may need when I don’t communicate that to them.  There have been many times when my husband has asked me if I was overdoing it and I just ignored him.  I should know better, but I was having too much fun.

One of the most challenging issues for me as a mother is to find balance in my life.  I try very hard to balance my life as a wife and mother and business owner and blogger as well as a myriad of other hats I wear on a daily basis.  But sometime no matter what my good intentions are I find myself falling back into bad behaviors.  I know that I need to put my health and self first so that there is more of me to share with the rest of the world.  I know that intellectually,  but somehow I managed to put myself on the back burner while I focused my energy on my kids and husband and their needs instead of what I know I should have.

It seems ridiculous that I could have just overdone things and ended up right back where I started from. And after a mere 3 days of tending to my “self” I would get back on track.  It just goes to show what a big impact our choices have on us.  Each day that I took for myself I started to feel better and better.  I am telling myself LESSON LEARNED and I certainly hope that I have finally learned this one. It is easy to forget how bad it can get when you are feeling good.  This time I got an urgent message from my body to slow down or else.  I was in a great deal of pain and I am sorry to say that I caused much of it myself.

I especially want to say Thank You to all of you that sent your well wishes here and on facebook and twitter.  It went a long way to helping me feel better and I am extremely grateful.