Hi, guys!
Yesterday I promised to tell you about mental disorders using the example of tablespoons, and I probably will.
This example, in fact, applies equally to all people living with some kind of serious illness that prevents them from eating every day. Someone that you have to put up with and accept its limitations. I have just that.
The story was told by a friend of a girl with systemic lupus. They were sitting together in the cafeteria of the firm they worked in, and she asked (for the hundredth time) what it was like to live with such a disease.
In fact, I want to point out that having a mental disorder involves coming out for life. No matter how many times you talk about it, people simply cannot understand and remember it. And then, by the way, they are very surprised when they are forced to observe uncontrolled symptoms, and also manage to ask them to "pull themselves together." It does not occur to me to think that if a person could pull himself together, it would not be a disease, but it would be just bad manners, for example.
But let's get back to the girlfriends in the dining room.
Image from Google pics
The girl who had lupus decided to back up another explanation with an illustrative example. She got up, collected tablespoons from other tables, brought them to her table and laid them in front of her friend. There were twelve spoons.
-Imagine that this is all the strength that you have for the day.
The friend laughed and said that she wanted more spoons.
-No, that's all there is. In order to get out of bed, go to the shower, get dressed and have breakfast, you need to spend two spoons.
-So much? But there are only ten left!
-Yes, so many. To work a full day, you will have to spend eight spoons.
-But there will be only two!
-Exactly. And with these two spoons you already have to choose what exactly you will do. Making a simple dinner and tidying up the apartment a little is just two spoons. Or for one of them you can cook a simple dinner, for the second you can watch a movie, and that is not a fact that it is completely. This is how we live, we just have less strength.
Of course, a person can strain himself and borrow a few spoons from the next day. But then tomorrow he will no longer have 12, but 10 spoons, if he borrows two. And in fact, not even 10, but 9 or 8, a few will simply disappear just because the person overextended himself.
Therefore, you have to constantly find the right balance. And this is not an easy task.
See you in the next post!
Love, Inber
I have heard this similar spoon story before when I was on NZ but the premise was on how people/ a person change from being active e.g. chatty in social gatherings down to 0 activity at all the following day or within the day. By then, I always count my spoons to be self-aware in my social activity and be extra patient to people in most cases. I know there can be a lot more of dynamics factoring to our behaviors but your post gave me a a trip down to memory lane (happy ones mostly).
Love to read more of your post! Keep it up.
Thank you so much, I'm happy to hear that it was useful:)