Lesson #29: A lesson from covid
This is a very simple lesson that I am learning the hard way, and I would like to be more known.
At the start of this year I got sick and had a positive PCR test for covid.
I wasn’t too upset about it because I was already staying home after a trip away, I had lots to do around the house, and it was well before my next trip away so I’d be out isolation in perfect timing.
I got pretty knocked down when I first got sick. A couple of days in bed. But I’d just done a mega-house clean (which always makes me sick anyway > dust) so at first I thought I’d simply overdone it (which I had).
As soon as I started to feel a bit better I would work in bursts of energy, continuing to clean and clear my house for the start of the year and upcoming visitors. And then I’d feel bad again. I’d feel better, go for it, and then recover.
One particular day sticks in my head. I was clearing the overgrown grass, in the late afternoon, first with a long whipper snippering, and when that ran out of petrol, with pulling and the scythe. By the end of it I was bright red like my body was going through internal combustion. I’d also been listening to non-stop podcasts and audiobooks and my brain felt fried. My body and brain felt fried.
That was Tuesday 11 January. Now it’s Sunday the 30th and I’m stick recovering. My brain at times feels like it’s expanding in my skull. My body feels tender.
Some lessons need to be smacked into us, but I’m feeling quite grateful for this lesson.
At the start of the year, as I got sick and others I knew of got sick, I considered it a message that we need to ‘slow down’. The masculine, patriarchal energy of pushing and dominating was being forced to stop. But I clearly hadn’t got that message, apart from those two days. After all, my house was a mess and my to do list out of control.
Interestingly, one of the lessons in not having my normal energy reserves has been in paying more attention to what is really important. I have a tendency to be running down many different tracks and adventures at once, thanks to my constant curiosity.
But really, I think it’s an important message to people who are sick with Covid. Slow down! Don’t try to push through. Give yourself the rest and the attention that your body needs. It will be better in the long run. You’ll get better faster.
Use this as an opportunity for appreciation, acceptance, surrender, exploration.
This could be your opportunity to transform your life.
