Edition 338 – Listen To Yourself
A few weeks back, Trish tested positive to COVID. She managed to dodge it when Callum and I tested positive in January, however in the middle of winter, it finally caught up with her. My belief is that eventually, we’ll all contract it.
Between January and July, the rules have changed significantly. Unlike Trish in January when I was laid up, I was allowed out during her week of self isolation, provided I masked up in indoor settings. However, given that a number of clients have contact with people at risk or in the healthcare sector, appointments were cancelled to ensure we remained socially responsible and stayed clear as best as possible.
Four days later, I woke up one morning feeling lousy. “It can’t possibly be” I thought to myself, as I experienced the now familiar symptoms. Headache. Fever. Congestion. You know the drill.
Day after day, I continued to test negative to Rapid Antigen Tests. Trish’s bulk store of RATs were fast depleting as my condition deteriorated.
As things headed south, I stumbled through a couple of days work. I continued to clear the diary of appointments, but wanted to get on with as much as I possibly could. Except, I was mostly unproductive and proved to myself that a day at the desk doesn’t mean you’re devoting your best efforts to the tasks at hand.
At some stage, I threw out my sense of guilt and decided that next morning, if I still wasn’t right, I’d not even clock on for the day. As it turns out, that day turned into sitting in front of the fire, all rugged up, reading some car magazines, dozing occasionally and watching some rubbish television. I spent the day doing nothing and not caring about it.
The following morning, upon waking, I was infinitely better, even if I was still under the weather. The day after that, I was better again. I was starting to feel the best I’d done in a week. I’d turned a corner.
Now, maybe it’s fortuitous that the day after I “took a sickie”, things started to improve. Or maybe, the fact that I’d unloaded the rucksack of guilt I’d laden myself with meant I finally gave my body the opportunity to repair itself. By spending the day doing nothing, my body had total control of expunging whatever bug it was I’d been laboured with.
If we throw away the blanket of guilt and simply do what we believe is best for us, and not for everyone else, do we benefit everyone in the relationship?
If we listen to our bodies for a moment, and take the time to rest up and recuperate from whatever ailment we’re afflicted with, will our recovery be faster and our productivity greatly improved as a result?
Sometimes, fighting against ourselves can actually slow us down, whatever it is we’re dealing with in life. If only we went with it when we should.
This Week’s Tip
” If you give up a day, you may recover a week. “