Today’s tip comes from a recent doctor visit. Several things happened in the visit which I had never had happen before.

1. The doctor looked at me as a whole person instead of just a patient needing his specialty.
2. He gave me a maximum exercise time each day. I always felt as if I needed to keep doing a bit more and a bit more each day.
3. I received homework from the visit in the form of an educational video to watch regarding my condition. Ummm… I’ve not had a doctor give me that type of homework before.

Our tip today comes from the video. I think each of us with a chronic illness has experienced the roller coaster of overdoing it on the good days and then paying for it for several days after. This speaker mentioned that rollercoaster and had advice which seems so simple unless you have a chronic illness. His advice was to basically even out your activity each day, trying to do a similar amount of activity whether it is a good day or a bad day.

Now, all of us know that there are days we simply can’t do as much, but his point is valid. Instead of overdoing it on the good days, steward your strength. It will mean not so many mountains and valleys in our energy levels. It reminded me that ultimately we are to be good stewards of what God has given us, including our health.

How do we do this? That I am still working out. It seems that the low energy days, especially many strung together, cause everything to get behind around the house. When I have a good day, it seems to make sense to simply get everything caught up while I have the fleeting energy. Of course, I see the doctor’s point. If I don’t overdo that day, I may have more strength the next day!

I hope this tip helps others out there as well. If you learn how to even the energy out a bit, let us know!