đź’ŞI create resources to help people adapt to living with chronic illness so they can thrive.
🔄 What if catching up isn’t the answer?
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Hi Reader, There’s a phrase I hear all the time in the chronic illness space, and I’ve said it myself more times than I can count. “I’ll catch up when I have more energy.” It sounds reasonable. Responsible, even. And yet, if you’ve been living with chronic illness for a while, you’ve probably noticed how often that plan quietly falls apart. The catch-up day takes more out of you than expected. The next few days feel harder. And suddenly you’re behind again, wondering why this keeps happening. I’ve been thinking a lot about that pattern lately, not from a mindset angle, but from a systems one. What if the problem isn’t that we’re failing to catch up, but that catching up was never a workable strategy for a body that fluctuates? This week’s blog post explores that question more deeply. It looks at why catch-up days so often backfire for spoonies, and what tends to work better over the long term. Not in a dramatic, overhaul-your-life way, but in a quieter, steadier one that makes daily life feel less fragile. If you’ve been craving routines that don’t collapse every time your energy dips, this one might feel especially relevant. 👉 Read the post here: A Better Alternative to Catching Up With Chronic Illness​ And if reading it brings up that familiar “okay, but how do I actually do this?” feeling, you’re not alone. As always, take what’s useful and leave the rest. You don’t need to fix everything at once for things to start feeling more manageable. ​ Warmly,
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April Smith | The Thriving Spoonie
đź’ŞI create resources to help people adapt to living with chronic illness so they can thrive.
Hi Reader, If self-compassion has felt distant lately, awkward, or just plain unavailable, this is for you. Not in a “you should be kinder to yourself” way. More in a “there might be a reason this feels hard right now” way. A lot of chronic illness advice treats self-compassion like a skill you can strengthen if you just try harder or practice more consistently. But when you’ve spent years overriding your body, managing symptoms, and staying functional under pressure, kindness doesn’t always...
Hey Reader,If you’re feeling more wiped out now than you were during the holidays, this is for you. There’s a particular kind of exhaustion that shows up once things finally slow down. The plans are over. The expectations ease up. And instead of relief, your body seems to… drop. Energy dips. Emotions feel heavier. Routines that usually help feel harder to restart. That moment can be confusing, especially when you’ve already done so much work learning how to pace, rest, and adapt. It’s easy to...
Hi Reader, The days after the holidays can feel strangely unmoored. Not quite rest. Not quite routine. Just that in-between space where your body is tired, your rhythm is off, and everything that used to feel automatic suddenly takes effort. If you’ve been feeling that lately, you’re not behind. You’re recalibrating. I wrote a new post this week about what it actually looks like to rebuild daily rhythm after the holidays when you live with chronic illness. Not the “get back on track” version....