I am deciding what to include in my life in the coming weeks, months, and possibly years.
A friend of mine gave me a pointer: Notice what gives you energy. If it gives you energy, it may be worth it.
That’s normally sound advice, and I am sure it works for her and many people.
For me, it’s different. I live with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and that requires different considerations and a different lens.
For me, any activity takes energy and requires rest before, during, and after, and it all comes with a recovery period. If it’s gentle and brief activity, like a short conversation, hours may be enough. If it’s more, then the recovery period may be days, weeks, or even months. If I stretch it too far, it can lead to a CFS crash and being bed-bound for a long time. It can even cause a permanent worsening of my condition.
Nothing gives me energy, apart from complete rest, silence and nature, and possibly Vortex Healing energization and some herbal medicine. Everything else takes out of my limited energy budget, often a considerable amount.
An activity may be meaningful and nourishing at a human and soul level, and it may be worth it even if it means a long recovery period, but it does not give me energy.
The pointers I use for myself are: (a) What are my priorities? (b) What can I exclude? (c) What can I include without risking crash, collapse, and permanent worsening of my condition? (d) How much buffer makes sense? (e) What do I want to include that’s worth it, in spite of the recovery time?
This is an example of how guidelines that may work for most people often don’t work for those of us with CFS or another chronic illness. What works for you may not work for me, and may even be damaging to my health. And what works for me may not work for you, at least not without considerable modification to fit your situation.
We are different and live in different circumstances, so we need different pointers.