You may have already heard or read about the "spoons theory" before. I think it is helpful for anyone dealing with an illness that affects their energy level.
This explanation of it is written a bit melodramatically for my taste, but it explains very well how, if we have health limitations, we have limitations on what we can accomplish in a day and that we have to plan if we don't want to run out of spoons (energy/low-pain level/etc.) before the day is over.
I haven't been doing this lately myself and have ended up not doing rewarding/fun/social things.
Your post has been a reminder to me to schedule some things that are important to me, and to remember how many spoons I have each day.
I may know, say, that if I have made a plan to have lunch with a friend that I should not scrub the bathtub before I go, or I will be too tired/sick-feeling to socialize properly. The "spoons" idea is just a visual tool to help me schedule my day.
Excerpt from "But You Don't Look Sick":
Quote:
At that moment, the spoon theory was born. I quickly grabbed every spoon on the table; hell I grabbed spoons off of the other tables. I looked at her in the eyes and said “Here you go, you have Lupus”.
She looked at me slightly confused, as anyone would when they are being handed a bouquet of spoons. The cold metal spoons clanked in my hands, as I grouped them together and shoved them into her hands.
I explained that the difference in being sick and being healthy is having to make choices or to consciously think about things when the rest of the world doesn’t have to. The healthy have the luxury of a life without choices, a gift most people take for granted.
Most people start the day with unlimited amount of possibilities, and energy to do whatever they desire, especially young people. For the most part, they do not need to worry about the effects of their actions. So for my explanation, I used spoons to convey this point.
I wanted something for her to actually hold, for me to then take away, since most people who get sick feel a “loss” of a life they once knew. If I was in control of taking away the spoons, then she would know what it feels like to have someone or something else, in this case Lupus, being in control.
- See more at: But You Dont Look Sick? support for those with invisible illness or chronic illness The Spoon Theory written by Christine Miserandino - But You Dont Look Sick? support for those with invisible illness or chronic illness
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