The Spoon Theory

What Is The Spoon Theory?

The Spoon Theory is a personal story by Christine Miserandino. It introduces a new way to explain energy levels by using "spoons" as units of energy. 

As a kid, it is difficult to describe how you are feeling to someone who does not have a chronic illness. How does one explain every single detail of how you feel every day living with these illnesses? Miserandino sat in a cafe and gathered spoons to use as units of energy. For people with chronic illnesses, energy is extremely limited and can go down very easily. As the day goes on, your energy level gets lower and lower until you cannot move. 

Miserandino gave her friend the spoons and every time her energy lowered, she would take a spoon away. By the end of the day, her friend was all out of spoons but she was not able to do everything that she wanted. When she realized this, she started crying. She realized how precious time and energy is. 

This theory has now been excepted around the world as a tool to use when describing what life with an invisible illness is like. 

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