Psoriatic Arthritis and Our Goals

“Goals” seems to be quite the buzz word this year. Plastered all over my social media, I seem to be constantly bombarded with the questions:

“What are your goals?”

“What do you want to do?”

“How are you going to achieve your goals?”

“What steps are going to take this year to make your goals happen?”

Goals, goals, goals...

On and on they go, while I sit here like a deer in the headlights… Ummm. The only answers I have aren’t even complete thoughts. IDK. I can’t complete a thought, much less any of my goals. Less brain fog maybe? Perhaps the ability to even have complete, comprehensible thoughts and sentences?

Is it even okay to have legit “goals” when you are just trying to manage to get through the day with psoriatic arthritis? Aren’t I just setting myself up for failure? The reality of life with psoriatic arthritis doesn’t always translate very well to making and attaining traditional goals.

Work goals

At work, we used to turn in goal sheets. I’m pretty sure “IDK” won’t work for a response. We are supposed to have goals. We are supposed to come up with a pretty little 5 point “plan” to achieve our goals. With the unpredictability of psoriatic arthritis, I can’t plan what I want to do tomorrow without setting myself up for disappointment. What makes me think that the perfect 5-point plan will help me meet my work goals either? This is yet another example where work and psoriatic arthritis don’t play nicely together.

Treatment goals

When I go to the doctor’s office, they want to know what my “treatment goals” are. Ummm, play with my kids? Not feel like death warmed over? Sure, I’d love to have enough energy to and pain-free days to keep my house from looking like a tornado just came thru. What the heck, maybe I’ll just shoot for the moon and say remission. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

The reality of goals when you have psoriatic arthritis

My goals with psoriatic arthritis will only be understood by others who fight to actually “live” with this condition too. Some people suggest that psoriatic arthritis is just a “part” of who I am. Yes, I suppose I understand their logic. After all, I am certainly more than “just” my PsA. However, in my opinion, that logic is a bit flawed.

I am not one or the other. My life and who I am isn’t neatly divided up into boxes or categories. The fact that I’m a mom colors everything else in my life. The fact that I’m a wife works the same way. The fact that I’m a PsA patient is no different either. The reality is that it colors every element in my life. And yes, that includes the reality of making and attaining my goals.

Am I suggesting that as psoriatic arthritis patients that we give up making or setting goals in our life? Nope. Not at all. We just need to be smart about it. What goals are you working on?