Sunday, January 31, 2010

This Medicine Doesn't Fit in a Bottle

I'm learning that to deal successfully with autoimmune disease boils down to one major strategy - managing my energy.

It seems as though my body meters out it's energy in ways I hadn't realized with autoimmune disease. There's the obvious energy users like exercise and physical exertion, yeah. But then there's other less obvious drains.

It takes energy to concentrate.
To remember stuff.
To make decisions.
To hang around with needy, cranky, negative people. Whew - I can think of some folks that are walking energy sponges. Although they may be energized by living a life constantly full of conflict, I become bone tired just hearing about it all. I've had to consciously limit time spent with these kinds of people for many reasons, but most importantly, to preserve my energy reserves.

I have found that I can protect and even increase my energy by surrounding myself by positive people. People who are genuinely interested in and for the most part, really like the world around them.

Special people like Greg and Terese.

I know. I pick on them constantly here. (And I'm not saying that they don't deserve it....) Hehe. But for me, spending time with them and people like them infuses me with something far more therapeutic than any of the pills that I pop every day.

Acceptance, humor, integrity, generosity, and intelligence make these folks truly good medicine.


stephanie said...

Amen, sister, on the positive people! Although, easier said than done, as it seems many people like to focus on the negative. As my Grandpa used to say when asked how he was: "Can't complain." Which I've taken as my new mantra, as of course, I CAN complain, but many people in the world are worse off than me.

Anonymous said...

I can attest to the positive contributions made by Greg and Terese. I do not know what I would do without them.

I will always remember Greg's thoughtful efforts to make my hydrangea pruning as effortless as possible by suggesting and providing the properly sized chain saw.

The hydrangeas also thank him.


annie said...

I think this is the reason why so many chronically ill people have fewer friends at some point in their lives. If someone can't accept you as you are, what kind of friends are they? And as you stated, we have so much energy expended on a daily basis just to survive, we can't bother dealing with pretentious and draining people. Maybe it's better to have one or two really great friends who care than a whole crowd of very miserly and unsupporting ones.I guess this explains my limited friends!