3 questions about your energy levels
Work, family, friends, sports and hobbies... Life can be a whirlwind! And wearing an artificial limb can be another massive energy drain. Walking with an artificial limb can be anything but a breeze, so how do you strike the right balance in your daily life?
‘Busy!’ Perhaps the most common response to the question ‘How are you?’ nowadays. It’s hardly surprising, really, because we’re all tremendously busy. Work, family, friends, sports and hobbies: we want to do everything and hate the feeling of missing out!
However, living a busy life requires you to carefully manage your energy levels. After all, if you’re planning on going to a birthday party or the gym after a hard day’s work, it’s important that you don’t use up all your energy during the day.
Striking a healthy balance is difficult enough as it is, and - unfortunately - wearing a prosthesis doesn’t make this any easier. There are no two ways around it: walking with an artificial limb is a real energy drain, especially on difficult days when your prosthesis isn’t comfortable, your residual limb is hurting, or phantom pains start acting up. However, life won’t wait for anyone, so how do you manage?
How do you keep your energy levels balanced?
We’d love to hear your thoughts! We’ve come up with three questions and we’d love it if you shared your answers by submitting the form below. Your experiences and tips can help other people!
1. Accept or persevere?
What do you do when you’ve really run out of steam? Do you just accept it and retreat to your sofa? Or do you still go to the party you’d been looking forward to all week, despite everything? Has your attitude changed over time? Have you learned to accept that you can’t do everything, for example, or have you gotten better at dragging yourself off the sofa?
2. Share or keep it to yourself?
Admitting defeat is awful, especially when you’ve been looking forward to something for ages. So what do you do when you really don’t have the energy to have lunch with your friend? Does it bother you to tell people that your artificial limb is to blame? Some people would rather say that they’re ill than that their residual limb is hurting. What are your thoughts on this matter?
3. Your ultimate tip?
What helps you strike the right balance? Do you schedule a day off each week to recover? Do you take a long hot bath every night to give your body some rest? Does your partner help you set boundaries? Or does a coach help you organise your week? We’d love to hear your ultimate tip!