Aagh - Down for the Count

I knew it was coming on.

I had felt extremely tired in the middle of the day, I had that all-over dull achy feeling and the beginnings of chest congestion.

I powered on. I did major grocery shopping and went to a meeting where I even gave a short presentation.

Next day I felt too exhausted to even fall out of bed. I managed to get myself up and look for energy in my first cup of coffee. Then I searched the back of the medicine cabinet for some cold/cough/congestion medicine. It was either that or blackberry brandy. Unfortunately, we had no blackberry brandy.

In the middle of winter when it’s freezing cold, and when the winds are howling and the snow is blowing, catching a cold can be an excuse just  to stay in bed with a warm quilt and a hot toddy and enjoy some downtime.

But during the final precious days of spring? When the temps are in the low 70’s and the sun is shining, and the sky is blue? My garden is calling out to me, I have things to do, places to go! Aagh.

My body needs rest. I decided it was time to appreciate the simple things of life – the soft breeze through the open window, an aromatic, steaming hot cup of tea with lemon and honey, the daytime solitude of our bedroom. Besides, I had control of the TV remote and my laptop keeps me connected to the world!  

By the second day, however, I decided my brain also needed a rest. So I turned off the TV and my laptop. (Sorry, world, I had to disconnect you.) Silence, almost. Birds singing. Noisy construction work going on next door. I pulled the blankets over my head and slept.

Sometimes I take good health for granted. Sometimes I think of all the people who live with chronic illness or pain. Sometimes I think about St. John Paul II, our Polish pope who showed the world heroic dignity though his suffering.

I do not do sickness well. I’m impatient and easily irritated. I do try to find some benefit in all this, some lesson to learn.

I am grateful for the gift of life and for family. I am grateful for beauty all around us and for times of solitude to become renewed. In the huge scope of life, catching a cold is a mere minor inconvenience.

And I am reminded I do need to put blackberry brandy on the shopping list.

I love my pink "solitude chair."