And as soon as it all was over....
I got sick.
Of course.
One minute I was feeling fine. The next all I could think about was crawling into bed, my throat raw with what turns out to be, well, a bad cold. That's it. Not even something that will get me sympathy, but it stopped me in my tracks.
When I was a school teacher I always got sick during vacations. As soon as I was done with my obligations my body would demand to rest.
You can set yourself up to be sick,
or you can choose to stay well.-Wayne Dyer
I set myself up to be sick. I wasn't listening to my body- running like mad, not resting, not playing, only working, working, working....I was even drinking coffee, something I rarely do. I fact, I was having a bit of a love affair with coffee- it was my hero, making it ok that I was shorting myself on sleep at night. I was holding up ok, albeit a bit stressed, but I was getting things done.
I do not support the argument that we manifest all of our illness. There are pathogens, carcinogens, toxins, luck and heredity to consider. But some illnesses we set ourselves up for. By not listening to the body as it asks politely for rest, we make it shout louder for rest, until finally we have no choice but to rest.
I write about balance because it is a hard thing to achieve. And even as we move toward a lifestyle that feels healthy and balanced, challenges will keep arising. With each step we take comes an opportunity to adjust, learn, fall down....
Sometimes I fall down. Sometimes I stay at the keyboard even though my fingers are hurting, sometimes I schedule more clients than I can happily work on in a day. Sometimes I don't go to sleep when I know I need to. And sometimes my body rebells and I end up having to cancel all my appointments and stay in bed for a few days.
Right now my brain is jazzed to be writing. I want to keep working on this piece, to develop it into something really fantastic, something that will help other people...I want to write and to write...
but, my body is craving this:
So, I am going to listen to my body.
I invite you to listen too.
Wishing you balance,
Nancy
