When is my LTC just a good excuse?

This post comes after much soul searching when I did not complete an action plan I had set myself one day. I debated with friends what was the route of the problem as to why I did not complete it and we came to this conclusion:

Was I using my LTC as an excuse because I didn't really want to do my action plan? What is the difference between good self-management and being lazy?

With fatigue and this pacing myself being such big issues for me, I was being over-cautious but felt guilty and realised I might just be being lazy, using the need to pace myself as an excuse! What is the difference?!?!

This issue was very stimulating during our discussion, because laziness is what so many people who don't know our conditions can often assume about us. It is embarrassing to be considered lazy at the best of times, but that 'label' has added meaning for those of us living with long term conditions.

One of the points that was raised was that every normal person has lazy days and creates excuses . . . We are also allowed that luxury too and should not punish ourselves too much for it. We are only human. So what is the issue then? if we adopt laziness as a long term option to manage our conditions and can't bring ourselves back from it. A vicious circle awaits! Using our conditions as an excuse is difficult - some joke it is the silver lining to having to live with them, that they create a always available and valid excuse but that would damage the reputation of all of us if we were to really use them as such.

Continual experience of your own body and how it reacts can be a good guide to why you are not doing something. Making yourself think if this activity/task was shopping/seeing friends/something positive would I do it? If the answer is yes, then you are probably avoiding the task and not really self-managing! Importantly, we need to fill our days with tasks that are enjoyable, so we are less likely to avoid the task and then wrangle with ourselves worrying we are simply lazy!

Quite a conundrum and something very difficult to discuss with complete honesty!