Chain of Causation.......

Since I tend to watch a good bit of television, I love comedies - laughter helps no matter how I am feeling and I get hooked on programs that are about families.  One that I recently found is "Are We There Yet?".  It's about a family with tween kids and a mom and dad who are busy working and trying to make this family work.  Always funny, right?  Well, Hubby and I were talking this morning about a line they use on the show quite frequently ~ Chain of Causation.  It's the kids way to explain their way out of things and the adults usually follow along.  I love it and if you are a parent or were a kid, you totally get this.  Just in case you don't, below is the definition.

Definition of CHAIN OF CAUSATION

• A series of events, each of which was caused by the immediately previous event.

• A series of events or situations interrelated and leading to a particular effect

For those of us with a chronic illness, our chain of causation is quite important because it allows us to trace back our steps and possibly figure out what caused a particular flare or symptom.  It's like a puzzle for me and over the years I have gotten pretty good at it.  I over ate on Tuesday night and had some fatty fried foods, and therefore I suffer on Wednesday and Thursday with tummy problems and more inflammation and......therefore more pain as well.  It is the same general idea as the balance discussion, but gives you a little better look at how far down the road the actual deed or action can cause difficulties.  Keeping a journal can really help with this and help us all to make better decisions or actually realizations that we may not otherwise come to easily.

Sometimes I feel like those V8 commercials and want to bop myself in the head - why didn't I know this already or notice that one small action can cause so many negative reactions.  Simple - right?  Not always because there is such a vast array of symptoms and causes.  Sometimes my Hubby is the one who puts the pieces together because he may notice something that I miss.

Good Luck with your chain and hopefully we can all have better days by a little change in our thought process.....thanks to the kiddos on Are We There Yet?.