At the end of last week, I fell ill with some weird virus. It completely knocked me off my feet. It woke me violently in the early hours of Saturday morning with pangs of pain, a high temperature and lethargy in amongst other symptoms. I brushed it off, took some tablets and tried to go back to sleep; after all you always feel better in the morning right?
This was not the case. I did not feel better and this went on for another three days. If you know me well, you’ll know that i’m not very good at all at being poorly, I need to be up, about and busy and this just was not possible. So, I had to stay in bed and I slept for pretty much two days straight, something unheard of for me.
Whilst being poorly and being stuck in bed, I had a lot of time to think about things and I assure you this was not out of choice. This led me to several realisations, they’re not life changing, breakthrough or award worthy but just little reminders that I needed at the time, and perhaps you might too.
1.) Nobody is indispensable:- Whilst ill, I could not go about my daily routine; did this mean the world stopped turning? Did this mean that everybody else’s lives came to a standstill? Was my position at work subject to me being there or could they get somebody else to do it? Could I really expect to continue living life at 5,000mph and expect my body to be able to keep up forever? The answer to these question was obvious, of course not, so the idea is to look after yourself, take things at a sensible pace of life and enjoy it along the way.
2.) People care more than you think:- It amazed me how many people actually dropped me a text message or called me to check in and see if I was okay. I missed a big community event over the weekend, which I was very sad about however, so many of the people there had made the effort to check that I was okay, or since being back on my feet have asked me where i’ve been because they’ve missed me. That really struck a chord with me. Similarly, whilst being stuck in bed the love and compassion people showed in actually physically caring for me, bringing me fresh drinks, tablets, propping my pillows, making the effort to listen to my whinging, wipe my tears and reminding me that ‘this too shall pass’ in the midst of my frustration. I thank each of you for showing me compassion when I was least expecting it.
3.) Your mind and body are linked more than you think:- If we don’t look after our minds, our body is soon going to pay the price. If we don’t look after our body, our minds soon pay the price. It’s easy to forget this when we’re in the middle of the hustle and bustle of every day life but it’s so important in keeping healthy. Mind and body matters! Similarly, if we’ve had a hard week emotionally, we need to take action in slowing down physically ensuring we’re taking time to process and regain our equilibrium. Similarly, if it’s been a physically busy, heavy week we need to ensure our mind is balanced, slowed down and cared for too.
4.) Appreciate your health and wellbeing:- We take our health for granted. When we’re well we don’t stop to think, ‘Yes, i’m super blessed to be well today’ even if that means not having a cold or a sniffy nose. We definitely should and is something I have started doing since being back on my feet. Just a simple appreciation that I got out of bed, I am feeling well, I can go to work today and I can do all that I need to do. It put things into perspective, how much more often we are well than we are not.
5.) Patience is tough:- When your health is out of your control and you’re already doing the self care stuff recommended for this type of illness it’s hard to be patient. Turns out i’m not patient but I need to be and we need to listen to our body when it’s telling us it’s not well. This was a very steep learning curve for me as I tried to struggle into work whilst still feeling slightly under the weather to only be sent home a few hours later.
This isn’t all I learnt whilst being under the weather however, it is a small insight into what I came to realise. Now as i’m feeling much better, i’m trying to go into each day being grateful for many things and acknowledging all that I have learnt and been blessed with.
Remember what matters in life, who matters in life and don’t forget to check in with reality.
The unhinged ramblings of a cogitating nonconformist. 