I joined the Right2Breathe Pulmonary Chat on that day just to see my old friends and be polite to Joe Morrison because of all that he does for COPD. What happened was a pleasant surprise. First of all I did not learn to do anything to save my energy, it seems that I have discovered how to do those things by myself, or I do not as yet need to do them.

What I did discover is that I need to allow myself to not get some things done. As an example; yesterday I had stripped the bed in the morning and had washed the bed clothes along with some other laundry. I went about checking other chores off my list and a little after 6 that evening I became very tired. I lay down on the couch to rest for a while and got back up around 7 pm. I finished cleaning the kitchen and decided that I had just eaten too much was why I had been tired.

I rode my stationary bike and logged the information into my Fitbit and went into the bedroom to make the bed. I found myself dreading to do the task so much that I ended up sleeping on the couch covered up with a beautiful afghan. The next morning things were fine and I began to chastise myself for not making the bed. That is when I remembered what Susan the Occupational Therapist had said. “It is ok to not take a shower if you are tired or any other thing that you planned to do. It can wait until the morning.”

What a relief I felt knowing that it was ok to be too tired to do something. Sleeping on the couch did not hurt the couch, me or anyone else. It was just ok. Right2Breathe https://Right2Breathe.org