Sick sucks. That’s what I’ve said all week, when I’ve had enough energy to speak, that is.
As I came out of my sick fog I’d glance at email on my phone, watching the numbers climb and my head would pound harder. I’d go back to sleeping or watching movies and wake up long enough again to think I should be doing something—working, laundry, making a pot roast. Then my head would pound and my stomach would turn and I’d go back to the coach. That was the pattern.
Still moving slowly, with low energy and a bit of a fuzzy head I’d peak at FaceBook. I read all of the positive posts, all the cool happenings that had popped since I’d been down, newsletters about getting stuff done and felt like a miserable failure. A lazy slacker.
The crappy feeling in my body had taken over my thoughts. I sat with it and decided that the crappy thoughts sucked too so I posted on FaceBook and asked for tips and suggestions on how to get out of a crap thought funk when you’ve been sick and they’ve snuck their way in.
Here are some of my favorites:
- Stop resisting it and lean into feeling like crap. If you must work, do the minimum, takes breaks, read, catch up on recorded shows, and stop pressuring yourself to be or do more than what you feel ready for. Trust that you will feel good again and that this is just an ebb….
- Get out of your head!!! Find something you can laugh at/someone you can laugh with. Watch some trashy TV, funny movies, great music. You are sick and it sucks but lighten up and chill out, and remember it all works out.
- Go outside into nature and take it all in. Breathe in the fresh air, sounds and sites. Find what you are grateful for. Breathe in and then out for a longer period of time.
There is no perfect time to be sick, we all know that. Not allowing yourself to feel bad mentally on top of physically can be a challenge. But, if work through the stinking thinking being sick can also be a time to cleanse, rest and take care of you.
