Death and Pneumonia
That's right, I got pneumonia. I not only got pneumonia, but also bronchitis and laryngitis. Me, the person who preaches to everyone who will listen that the body can only be pushed so far, the body and mind need care and rest, it should not be neglected. Talk about a rude awakening! I'm the yoga lady. I'm the natural medicine lady. I'm the quit busy-ing yourself into sickness lady.
It was a perfect storm scenario. In the span of 3 weeks, I had 2 planned trips. One trip was out of state, one was in-state. I also knew that my partner would be gone for 75% of this time frame, our younger two kids would be starting back to school, another child would have to be moved in to her college dorm (4 hours away), and I would have lessons for an online business class I was taking. We planned as much as we could. It was quite a bit, but not overwhelming.
Then............My uncle passed away. My brother was put into the hospital, 11 hours and 4 states north of me. One of my properties had an emergency come up...6.5 hours and 3 states south of me. My big brother passed away, at only 52 years old. My college-bound daughter's car broke down, resulting in a $2200 bill and an extra 8 hour round trip to take it to her 5 days after I moved her into her dorm.
I had been traveling, dealing with emergencies, and not sleeping for the vast majority of those 3 weeks. I got sick. I had been sick since week 2, but had to keep going. So I pushed until I stopped being able to breathe. I ended up going to the hospital, getting an emergency chest x-ray, and being diagnosed with not only pneumonia, but also bronchitis and laryngitis. I looked like death warmed over with gray skin, according to my partner and our children, and felt more terrible than I looked. How did I even get to this point?!?!
Everything stopped. My busy world shut down as the medication the doctor had me on made me sleep 18 hours a day and feel drugged whenever I wasn't sleeping. I could barely stand up and had to be helped to the bathroom. I looked and sounded drunk. This went on for 10 days. My body could not heal itself through natural remedies any longer. I had to actually put drugs into my body to get better.
I feel like too many of us live daily in this state-of-being. We push daily, ignoring our body and mind as they tell us that they need rest, fun, and to be taken care of. We live on the edge of complete ruin, dancing with it like it's something to be befriend and try to keep on our side, but it will always win. I have seen it in my own friends and family members, and I have experienced it myself.
While there are seasons in life when there is nothing to do but push through and endure, like those 3 weeks I had, but those are only seasons. We can handle those seasons if we aren't already on that edge, dancing with ruin. I had been pushing a little too much and a little too far for 6 months before that perfect storm of a season came my way. I was too close to the edge. How many of us push like that for years or decades? How many of us forgo 8 hours of sleep to work more or look at social media or watch a tv show? How many of us ignore our bodies as they plead with us for nutritious food and movement? How any of us think relaxing and having fun are a waste of time? How many of us say or think, “I have to. I have no other choice.”?
There are always choices. I haven't been making the right ones for almost all of 2023, and my body made me stop and rest, because it could no longer go on. I started to process the losses and stresses of the previous month, to ponder my own life, and to take deep breaths once again.
What choices have you made lately that are not good for you? When was the last time you actually rested? When was the last time you took stock of your life and made a conscious decision about how you want it to be? Do you want to be drugged, in pain, and miserable for your final years of this life?
Take some time today: rest, be still, listen, ponder, meditate, and just breathe.
Because you can.
