Everyone knows the eating utensil that's best for soups, ice cream, and other delicious things. But did you know that a spoon is a common metaphor too? It's used to describe the amount of physical/emotional/mental energy one has during the course of a day. Now, it doesn't have to be spoons, specifically. It can be whatever you want it to be, whether that's chips, hats, or marbles. The idea of using a spoon was first imagined by a woman named Christine Miserandino in her article "The Spoon Theory". This concept has had a great impact in my personal life, and I would like to share the idea again with you all.

A normal person generally has unlimited spoons, or at least enough to not run out. When I say "normal", I mean healthy. A healthy person does not have any physical ailments or diseases that hinder your energy in any way. Someone with a chronic fatigue disorder will have fewer spoons as their healthy friends. Doing anything can use up spoons. Going to the store could take up, say, 20 spoons. Doing the dishes may take 5. It varies from person to person. But, once those spoons are all used up, you're done for the day.

A normal, healthy person might have a very busy day and feel tired at the end, but this is not the same as using up all your spoons. I'm not saying that healthy people can't use them all up, but it's much more unlikely than someone with an ailment. When you use up all your spoons, your body feels weak, your focus goes out the window, and it becomes very hard to function. You know it when you feel it. At this point, it's best to wrap up whatever you're doing and go home to rest until the next day.

Not every day starts off with the same amount of spoons either. Some days you're full of energy and can do a lot! Other days you may just feel tired and not able to do as much. It all depends, and there's nothing wrong with having fewer spoons some days. The best thing to do when someone you love is having a "Low Spoon Day", is to let them rest, and don't force them to do more than they believe they are able. It takes patience, but it's well worth it, because when they have a day of full spoons, they'll be able to do a lot more.

With all that being said, every person is different. Even healthy people can have Low Spoon Days, and unhealthy people can have High Spoon Days. This is not an excuse to get out of doing what needs to be done, though. The point of knowing how many spoons you have each day is so that you can budget them out and get everything done that needs to be done. If you know that you have fewer spoons that day, then you have to use what spoons you have to get your more important work done first. Once it's all done, you can then use whatever spoons you have left for fun.

The Spoon Theory: http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written...