The Art of Listening to Your Body

Embrace the Good Days and Manage the Bad - Acknowledging Your Responsibility.

Let me ask you this....

Has someone close to you, maybe a loved one, a family member or a close friend, who knows your situation, say to you "Don't over do it."

Then our usual response is "I won't."

Then 8 hours pass, you're collapsed in your bed, pounding the Tylenol, heating pad wrapped around you, sighing over your decisions that day as you come to the realization....

      "Yep....I over did it."

This is something I hear from fellow Spoonies over and over again that we ALL do, we over do it allllll the time. Even if we don't mean to over do it, by the time we realize it, it's too late.

My fiancée always says to me "Listen to your body and what it's telling you." 

And a lot of times us Spoonies are of the mindset that, "I'll know when to quit for the day, I know my body." Then, later finding yourself in a world of pain and exhaustion and apologizing to yourself and your loved ones for disobeying them, including yourself. 

I know it's almost always, if not always, unintentional to over do it, but the fact of the matter is, it's easy to do.

On the good days you want to 'CASH IT IN'!!!$$$$$$$$!!!!!!

When you're having a good day you make plans for the whole day. Doing one strenuous thing after another after another. Whether those plans are spent doing various sorts of entertainment or whether those plans are doing ALL the chores or projects you've HAD to put off for quite some time and decide "I'm going to do it ALL today!" By the time you finish or don't finish) those plans, you've over done it and have turned a good day into a setback.

It's vitally important to pace yourself.

Let me say that again.... PACE YOURSELF.

(I'm preaching to myself here as well. 😎) 

It's easy to over do it, but when you "Cash In" too much on the good days it can lead to a series of bad days. Our bodies are sick, unfortunately, it's our reality. However that doesn't mean we can't live our lives. We absolutely should! And we should absolutely take advantage of the good days.

But the key really is pacing ourselves. Take an event or project one at a time. And if you have to Stop, listen to your body and Stop 🛑.

It's Ok to Stop and Rest, and let your body recover.

Now on the Bad Days...

....it's just as important to NOT break your body down EVEN MORE by pushing yourself too hard.

When you're in pain, when you're sick but you want to do something because you don't want to let the sickness or disease control your life that's very much understandable.

I'm bad about this....I love to Cook. It's like a distraction from the pain for me, so finding a hobby to keep you occupied is more than Ok but not at the expense of sacrificing your body and well-being to the extent it sets your healing and recovery further back.

I'm going to say it again it again....

PACE Yourself.

At the end of the day you know your body's limits. Think of your energy in the Spoon Theory (after all, we are called 'Fork, Knife, and Spoonies' 😎).

After you've completed a task, project, or event, ask yourself honestly how many spoons do you have left. If you feel like you have enough to do the next thing then go for it!

I get life requires responsibilities that we all have to do. There's no way around it. Part of living as an adult.  But if you're not sure if you have the energy, let that be the dealbreaker to say "I need to take it easy right now." That's not to always say you're done for the day, but maybe for the moment.

A scale that I try to follow is to see what you can do each hour. Don't try to cram everything all at once, take it hour by hour. At the end of each hour as yourself if you can keep going. If you can't, be honest with yourself, but if you can then check where you're at again in the next hour.

On the Bad days, I'm talking where you can't do anything or much of anything, remind yourself this..."If I do something today is it going to set me back further?"

It's easy to push ourselves way past our limits to the point it hurts us. If you have to cancel plans with someone or for an event, you don't have to apologize for it. Rather be proud of yourself for being honest with yourself and giving your body the rest and healing it deserves, that you deserve.

None of this means we can't live our lives. As matter of fact, it's quite the contrary. We just live our lives in doses. 

I remember having a conversation with someone how sometimes I feel like Spoonies enjoy the moment or a memory more so than the average person...whether true or not....because we have such a great appreciation of the good days after living through the bad days.

Your life isn't over, it just has challenges. But you can manage those challenges by being honest with yourself and how you feel day in and day out, hour by hour, minute by minute.

You're going to have good days! Don't lose hope! And when you do have them, it's going to feel so rich, because they remind you where you were, where you came from, and to live in THIS moment and say to yourself..."Today's a Good Day."

I understand it's frustrating to feel like these limitations are preventing you from living life how you want sometimes. I've been there. However, you WILL get to live your life, and how great life is. 

Remember, your life is an inspiration to others. If you feel like your life doesn't carry purpose, you're wrong. You don't know what your bad days, or good days, will mean to someone else.

Your patience and experience of overcoming the bad days gives hope to you and others for the good days.

Be kind to yourself. Be honest with yourself. Be proud of yourself.

Remember, we're all in this together.

With Love,

~ Fork, Knife and Spoonies ~