What Does it Mean to be Chronically Alive?
Chronically Alive means fully accepting your illness and using mindfulness to live the rest of your life to its fullest despite being sick. Whether you are physically ill or mentally ill, you can still have a full, rich meaningful life however long or short it may be. Even people like me, who suffer from chronic pain and terminal illness can find a way to add quality to their life in small microdoses. Chronically ill doesn’t have to mean chronically miserable.
As My Life Comes to a Close
When you are chronically alive, you spend each minute of your life living in the present and enjoying the moment to the best of your ability. The past is gone, you can’t go back and edit it. While the future is unknown, you also have to hold in the back of your head that you don’t have years and years to live a meaningful life. You have to complete those earth-shattering achievements now. Everyone in the world wants to feel like they have accomplished something that changed the world in some way, big or small. To do that you need to set goals.
You can pick a reasonable list of five to ten little goals that you can achieve one at a time, some people call this their bucket list. I didn’t do this. I chose one major goal. “To use my writing to validate, inspire, and instill hope in others suffering from chronic physical and/or mental health conditions. I want to remind the world that mental illness doesn’t magically innoculate you against physical illness. I need to change the way people with invisible but serious health issues get treated by the medical community and even the general public. My writing can be the catalyst for ending the stigma around chronic physical and mental illness.
Maybe I am crazy for hoping my website can do so much, but maybe not. To quote Steve Jobs, “People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
In every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1,440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact.
Staying Chronically Alive When Chronically Ill
Being chronically alive means that you don’t let your chronic illness ruin your life. It means you contain the pity parties. However you don’t have to totally stop them. Every once in a while, everyone needs a good cry and to go off on a “woe is me” rant. What it does mean is that you maintain a positive attitude. Instead of looking at all the things you can’t do, look at everything you can do. When negative thoughts come up, acknowledge them, so that they know they’re heard, sit with them to try to understand where they are coming from, even when they are uncomfortable. If you find your source complete your gentle thoughtful action to get rid of the feeling. If you can’t find the source, while breathing mindfully breathe out the negative feelings that are now processed and feel the weight of the negative feelings being lifted off of you. Now you have space for positive thoughts like the new t-shirt you just bought or the great book you’re reading. Our attitude toward life determines life’s attitude toward us. So, keep focusing on all the positives in your life and sitting with, understanding, and processing the negatives.
Making the Most of Being Terminal
When I was pronounced terminal, I began making some changes in my life to make every last moment count. Every week I write a list of everything in my life that I am grateful for. One of the first things I do when I wake up every morning is open up my laptop and write a list of three activities I will do that day that I know I will really enjoy. Sometimes they are small, brief activities like changing my teddy bear’s clothes, other times they are big and exciting activities like going to the Westfield Children’s Museum. Then when I am engaging in those activities, I pay attention to every part of them which makes them enjoyable to me, which gives me even more pleasure when I am carrying them out. This way every last moment I am given is an enjoyable happy moment.
The Power of Love
I am also working on creating stronger connections with all the people in my life that I love so much. Research has shown that love has the power to replenish, even down to a cellular level. It affects the autonomic nervous system. The emotion of love can take a person from being in “fight or flight” mode and put them back into “heal and restore” mode.
Whenever I say goodbye to someone I care for deeply, I always make sure to tell them I love them, even if they’re coming back the next day or even in a few hours.
It takes practice to learn to live Chronically Alive. However, once you do, you have a life worth living no matter what.
My Latest Published Novel, “Was I Ever Normal”
Was I Ever Normal is my latest novel, which was just released at the end of August 2022. Although it is a completely fiction book, I too suffer from childhood-onset schizoaffective disorder and went through multiple psychiatric hospitalizations as a young child and teenager. The main character is based on all the different kids I met on the various psychiatric units, all rolled up into one character which is Cassie. She’s a young girl with schizoaffective disorder who is so determined to hide her psychosis from the world that she spins an intricate web of lies to protect her secrets. When she finally realizes that she needs more help than she can give herself, and tries to tell the truth, no one believes her. They accuse her of “manufacturing symptoms to avoid working on the real therapeutic issues”.
Where Can I Buy “Was I Ever Normal”?
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In-store at any Barnes and Noble across the country. If your local Barnes and Noble doesn’t have it in stock you can tell them that you are looking for “Was I Ever Normal by Becca Pava” and they will order it for you for free. It will be available in 2 to 3 business days
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Barnes and Nobles online as either an e-book or a paperback
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Amazon as a paperback or a Kindle
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The Book Loft in Great Barrington, MA
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Booktopia in Lidcombe, New South Wales Australia
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Angus & Robertson in Australia
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Books and Crannies in Martinsville, VA
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Darvill’s Bookstore in Eastsound, WA
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Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore in San Diego CA
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Wellington Square Bookshop in Exton, PA
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Lehmanns Media in Berlin, Germany
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Next Chapter Booksellers in Saint Paul, MN
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Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver, CO
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And multiple other independent bookstores across the US and internationally, just google, “Was I Ever Normal by Becca Pava”
Browse My Store
Get In Touch
At Chronically Alive, we're dedicated to spreading awareness about chronic mental and physical illness, and hope, validation, and inspiration to those who are suffering. If you someone you know needs support, please don't hesitate to reach out to. You can contact via email, phone, or visit us at our address below.
Contact us at:
- Email: bpava72@gmail.com