I woke up and felt miserable. Fever, aches, fatigue like you wouldn't believe. That happens sometimes. However, when I thought about how bad I felt, I felt worse.
This is sort of how my mind went this morning:
I am cold. I am sweaty. I am tired. I wonder if I have a fever (got up to check)...yes I do. Not too high, but it may get worse. Should I go to work? I don't want to spread what I have. I really need to rest. Yes rest. Plus, I ache all over. (Suddenly I realize how much I ache all over.)
This is just a snippet of self-talk. It is amazing how much worse I felt after about 15 minutes of this. Then I was reminded that I had to go to work. It was important. It was not something I could miss.
So I changed my thinking.
I am awake. I will wake up more in the shower. I have control over my thoughts. I must take responsibility for how I react to my body. I need to be dependable to the people in my life. My body will get along without me worrying about it so much.
And so....
I got ready, got in the car, and went to work. I survived the half-day that I needed to be there.
Now what have I learned from this?
I can make myself worse by thinking sick thoughts, or I can get through the day if I think about positive, healthy thoughts. It is always my choice!
It is always your choice!
That is so very true Steve. In my life, I can choose to give in to the "sickies"- the symptoms, the yucky feelings. I can choose to dwell on the fact that because my sinus cavities have so much scar tissue and are so tiny anyways, that my ears will forever ring. (I actually miss tinnitus when it is absent) Our minds are funny things. Often I think of my allergies/sinus issues which are chronic as hindrances that may annoy me at times but changing my focus to healthier thoughts, make them not so bad.
ReplyDeleteNow there are times when we also have to let ourselves rest. We have to give in to "getting better." Sometimes submitting is not easy. Our subconscious tells us all the things on our to do list that are not getting done. We know that all of our tasks are piling up and we want to ignore the needs of our bodies to get what the world says we have to get done.
How do you find the balance in that? WOW I wish I knew. I think that it is sort of like we were talking about yesterday. Allowing ourselves to slow down and dump all the trash and garbage at the door to let God in -- to let the healing in -- makes us healthier people. Often when I get sick (beyond just South Texas allergy sinus), I can usually reflect back and realize that sometimes it is God's way of letting me know that I needed to slow down. But wow that is difficult to admit.