I finally caught the COVIDs. Somehow, I have been able to dodge the damn thing until now. Gus caught it in the spring. When I was giving him the test, he wet-coughed in my face. I thought I was done for. Jacob got sick, Greg got sick. And yet somehow, I managed to squeak by unscathed. And good thing too! I had too much to do back then.
I always have too much to do. Sometimes I wake up in the night with my brain on loop with all the things I don’t want to forget to do the next day. I even keep sticky notes and a pen by my bed to write this stuff down, so it doesn’t keep me up. But I don’t write it down. I loop it.
And speaking of waking up in the night, the past two nights I was up with a brutal and burning sore throat. I didn’t like that at all. After the first night, the following day was fine. No sore throat. But the next night’s sore throat followed me all the way through the day. That’s the COVIDs speaking. Add to that the infamous dry cough and headache and you’re right in the center of a plague situation. Boo.
Captain Hypocrite Here
Even still, I was able to sweep my floors and do some laundry. It was pathetic and Greg had to tell me to cut it out. Honestly those couple chores did me in for the day, but he was right. And I know I’m ridiculous.
I was just having a heart to heart with one of my fellas this morning about how important it is that we listen to our bodies. (Captain Hypocrite here.) How our bodies are our primary teachers in this life, and they are very good at communicating what we need as long as we are listening. And then I literally launched into a story about how many times my body has been telling me to rest but I don’t listen. I push, and overdo and don’t listen. Then eventually I get sick, and I don’t have a choice. I have to rest. Even as I’m sharing this very wise anecdote with Gus, I’m coughing and sneezing and blowing my nose. To my embarrassment, this really happened.
Another thing that happened was that I cooked a big Thanksgiving meal while feeling just fine (except the headache . . .). And then when I was really sick, I did housework.
My Body, My Teacher
As I’m typing all of this, I’m realizing that it goes way beyond ridiculous to unkind – to put it kindly. My body, my teacher, asks for my attention for my greatest good. And much of the time, I am unwilling to listen.
I am so lucky that my Thanksgiving guests were mostly boosted or recently had COVID themselves. So far, everyone is healthy except one sister who spent the previous 2 weeks with grade schoolers and easily admits that her possible fever and stuffiness are most likely due to the exposure to those germ pools.
We were supposed to get our Christmas tree today. Last night as I was lying in bed like a slug, I actually entertained the idea of still trying to go today. That is madness. And though I slept well and am feeling markedly better, I need to take some time to not only rest, but to come back into my body and be present with what is asking for my attention. Today, I am being asked to drink hot tea and ice water. To be still and breathe in eucalyptus mist. To pause and listen.
If you’ve had the COVIDs, or struggle to slow down, or need to be kinder to your body, let’s be friends~
