Stream of Consciousness Sunday: Efficiently Ill

A few days ago, Christine of But You Don't Look Sick tweeted the following question: "What POSITIVE lesson has having a chronic illness taught you?" I thought about it for awhile, and came up with the response "Know who/what you value and don't let them go!" And while I stand by that answer, I've had two conversations with friends in the past day that make me realize being ill has taught me something else, and something potentially even more important. Having a chronic illness has taught me to be incredibly efficient. One of my friends even said to me, "I don't know how you DO it all!" and I just had to laugh.

"But," I can hear you thinking, "don't you sleep 9-10 hours? Don't you have days or even weeks where you spend most of the day in bed, and just do the bare minimum of what you need to do for work and school?" And the answer to both of those questions is "Yes." But the difference is that I've come to understand that the days I feel good, or at least competent, are not necessarily days I can count on (the great giver-of-spoons can be very unreliable) so I have to make the absolute most of the time I have. Which means I find the the fastest ways to get things done and still do them well. This means planning out my errands in advance, so there's no extra driving (or walking) around. It means saving my TV and movie watching for those times when I don't have the energy (physical or mental) to complete reading and writing tasks. It means wringing every possible productive moment out of those good days or weeks, or even hours, and then giving myself the space and permission to rest when I need to rest. Chronic illness: the great efficiency tool. Who knew?