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The Spoon Theory Explained and Why It's Important
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you may have seen #spoonie or #spooniesister. So what does that mean? The spoon theory is used to explain our energy throughout the day. When you have a chronic illness, you may start with spoon depletion. Say you have 20 spoons at the start of the day. You choose to shower (5 spoons). You cook lunch or dinner from scratch (5 spoons). Then you go to work (10 spoons), by the end of the day, you’re completely out of spoons. All your energy is gone. This may impact the number of spoons you start with tomorrow. You may choose to borrow…
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You Are Not Your Illness
When being chronically ill, it’s easy to merge your identity with your illness. I’m here to tell you that you are not your illness. The way I see it, illness is something that happens to us. It changes our life and perspective. It may influence our choices and outlook but we are not our illness. Finding yourself after or during chronic illness can be a struggle. I’ve identified ways to discover who you are in the midst of being sick and I thought I’d share them here with you. Find Your Purpose We are all here for a reason. Depending on your ideology, you may look at this differently but…
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How to Build Your Support Network
Finding support can be a challenge. Depending on your support system and your mental state it can be an uphill battle. Fear not! I am here to tell you my tips in finding a support system. I am lucky. I have a very supportive family and a wonderful network of friends. Finding other individuals having a similar experience was a tough challenge. So I began my search for a bigger support network. Facebook groups and Instagram Social media is an excellent way to find others like you. You may be reading this because of Instagram or Facebook, if so, Welcome! I’m glad you’re here. There are great support groups on…
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Setting Boundaries and Learning to Grow
I’ve always been good at setting boundaries. It’s one of the first things I learned in therapy, way back when. It can be difficult to learn what is a boundary and what is selfish. When I was taught about boundaries, it was about discovering what you can handle. Stepping back and asking yourself, is this my emotion? What emotions belong to another individual? As I grew with this concept it continued to develop. I learned that indulging others for fear of their anger was not acting in my own best interest. In a general sense, setting boundaries has helped shape me as a person. When I was young, I struggled…
