Monday, I had my first appointment with physical therapist, Christine. Dr. R had sent me for the evaluation. She thought instruction in the warm pool of the Health Plex would help me. I had other motives, too. My first concern was stability when walking. My second was avoiding losing the flexibility I had worked so hard to maintain over the years. My third was getting enough physical activity while dealing with RA fatigue. Christine talked with me, checked me over. She has already reviewed my chart. I needed to slow down, she said. Rest is of vital importance. Being extremely busy without enough rest periods was self-sabotage. Pacing is one way to be sure I had enough energy to do what I wanted to do. I also understood that sometimes choices needed to be made. With RA it is not always possible to do it all. Sometimes the only good thing to do would be to rest. Resting is a good weapon against flares. It works best to rest so the flare doesn’t happen. Swimming …