Give Me a BRAKE: What Illness Has to Teach Us About Self Care
Sniffle, sniffle, cough, cough, scratchy scratchy sore throat, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough. Ahh, yes, the rhythms and sounds of a viral winter. Forced down time. Rest. Plenty of fluids. And utter boredom. For someone used to going full speed, working long hours, and rarely taking time off, being sick is inconvenient at least – or so I used to think.
As with everything, once I changed my mind about what it means to be sick, something truly amazing happened. I started to see the gift of illness. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not thrilled with sore throats, congestion, and coughing so hard I see stars. But this resting thing, taking a break from technology, stopping when I’m tired, giving my body and mind a break is something I could get used to.
Our bodies are wonderful storytellers if we just listen. They tell us what they need. Our job is to listen. And sometimes illness is a way for our body to tell us to slow down, take a time-out, and re-group.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll find that illness comes after a stint of burning the candle at both ends, trying to fit 40 hours of work into a 20 hour window of time. It rarely comes when I’ve been taking stellar care of myself. So, for me, illness is just a little reminder that self care is important…always. And especially when I feel like I don’t have time for it.
So I’ll go on enjoying some down time and taking better care of myself, while remembering that once I’m ready to get back into the full swing of things, it’s time to pay closer attention to my body’s signals.
