Meeting Your Needs: How To Prioritize

Years before, when I first adopted my cat, Zoe, I’d tried unsuccessfully to buy health insurance for her. Instead, I began to save twenty-five dollars a month for Zoe’s health care. I jokingly called my cache the “Zoe Goes to College Fund.” When Zoe’s college” fund reached a thousand dollars, I stopped contributing.

That fall, I decided to spend the money I’d saved for Zoe. She was perfectly healthy, whereas I was desperate and sick. It was an easy decision. I took my father’s suggestion and saw an acupuncturist the first day I felt well enough to leave the house. I continued appointments with him for a couple of months. I had no idea whether or not his treatments were helping me, but I found them surprisingly relaxing, which kept me returning. I stopped seeing the acupuncturist when Zoe’s fund reached two hundred dollars. I’d moved out of the worst of the relapse by then. 

I spent Zoe’s college fund because I needed help right away. Zoe was less than ten years old when I dipped into her savings, so I had plenty of time to rebuild her medical fund. Throwing some money at my problem helped me physically and made me feel more empowered because I was being proactive. Mom would have been proud.

Learn to Prioritize

It’s important to prioritize how you expend energy when illness limits it. I have a motto: Movies First. If I had a family, my motto would be Family First. I love movies and prefer to see them in a movie theater. I’ve gone to the movies at least once a week for forty years. Among my friends and family, I’m often known as the person who “sees everything.”

I stagger into the theater at 10:40 for the 10:45 show, along with other film fanatics. But when I go to the movies on Saturday morning, I know whatever else happens during the weekend, I’ve made time for the part of my life I care about the most. Sometimes my home isn’t as clean as it needs to be, and then I can look forward to watching the dust bunnies drift across my floor. But because my health is so unpredictable, it’s essential to prioritize my activities. Monday through Friday, my priority is work. On the weekend, it’s getting to the movies.

Often it isn’t possible for me to do everything I need to in order to keep my life on track the way I want. I have to let go of certain things. Prioritize what you care about most, and give those matters your time and energy first.

READ Ten Coping Tips To Manage Chronic Pain

Let go of what is less important to you. Eventually the less important things get done anyway. I pay my bills, and, sooner or later, I clean the house. When I look at the big picture, everything works out, and it can work for you too.

As the ringmaster, I plan well, balance the components of my life carefully, and remain optimistic. These are the best ways I’ve successfully managed a complex life with chronic illness.