Shortly after I was discharged in July 2007 I continued with outpatient physical and occupational therapy at Harborview Medical Center. My Occupational Therapist Beth said to me, “Jamie, there are four words I want to explain to you that will be important in your recovery. Planning, preparation, prioritization and pacing.” I thought it was great advice. The only problem is I didn’t follow it, at least not in the first four months post injury. The most important of those words was “pacing”, and I didn’t pace myself well at all. In fact, I felt this incredible sense of urgency in those initial months to do everything possible to get better, often times going to 8-12 therapy appointments a week. I wouldn’t let myself rest during the day, even though my body was screaming at me to do so. I had this misguided belief that if I rested I was somehow giving in to the injury. This maniacal march took me to the edge, and I suffered a terrible setback, deep depression, suicidal thoughts, and an exacerbation of symptoms. I crashed a second time, this time mentally. It took some time to climb out of the hole, but this time around I was mindful about all four words of Beth’s advice, especially pacing. This time I listened to what my body was telling me, and rested when I needed to. It has made all the progress since then possible.