Make Living with Psoriatic Arthritis a Little Easier
There are literally hundreds of things that we do every day that are much more difficult because we have psoriatic arthritis. Everything from basic bottle opening to shopping or laundry are much more difficult tasks for us to complete due to our pain and fatigue. Shopping used to be one of my very favorite things to do. Now I look forward to it about as much as a root canal.
I dread grocery shopping
Wandering up and down the aisles of the grocery store takes more energy out of me than I thought humanly possible. The constant lifting of items and the sensory overload of the sights and sounds makes it difficult for me to think straight and focus on my grocery list. I used to dread the weekly grocery shopping trip and avoid it at all costs.
Now we have options
You may have noticed that many of the major supermarkets now offer pickup and even delivery options. At first, I didn’t think much of it. Why would I want to pay extra money for someone else to do such a “simple” task as grocery shopping? Surely that would just be lazy. I wrote off the entire idea as ridiculous and didn’t think much more about it. Until yet another flare hit.
The pain and fatigue of the flare settled in my bones. But I don’t have just myself to worry about. Like many of us, I’m also a wife and mother. I was certain my husband would be perfectly happy running to the supermarket to pick up what we needed. But after working all day, it just didn’t seem fair asking him to do it. The kids were hungry and our cupboards and fridge were bare. But there was just no way that I could manage to drag myself and three small kids to the grocery store.
The first time I made living with psoriatic arthritis a little easier
That was the first time I gave in. From the comfort of my couch, heating pad and all, I spent a mere 15 minutes adding all the groceries we needed to my virtual cart. I set a pickup time for when my husband got off work and bam, I was done. Actually, I felt ridiculously productive, especially for a flare day. Contrary to what I expected, I didn’t feel lazy. I didn’t feel like I “wasted” a few dollars at all.
What I felt was relieved.
Yes, I’ll be the first to admit that doing a grocery pickup isn’t an earth-shattering thing. In the grand scheme of life, it really isn’t a big deal. But at that moment, it felt like a miracle. It dawned on me. Why was I wasting all that energy grocery shopping when I could have been saving it for so many more amazing things? All for a few bucks? What the heck was I thinking? Why was it such a big deal at the time?
It’s sad. To think that I spent so much of my limited energy because I was afraid that I would feel lazy or guilty. Forget that. Maybe it’s a secret others have known for a long time and I’m just figuring it out now. I don’t know. Either way, I’m grateful that I finally allowed myself the freedom to choose how I would use my (very limited) energy for the day.
To many, it may be a small thing. But to me, doing that “small thing” to make my life easier made all the difference.
How are you making life a little easier with psoriatic arthritis?
What is holding you back from making your life a little easier with psoriatic arthritis? Is it guilt? Is it fear of what others might think? A few bucks? Whatever it is, big or little, take the time to do things that make living with psoriatic arthritis a little easier. You won’t regret it.
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