I am not a doctor (yet?). (My mom will enjoy that sentence!) But I am not a doctor. I don’t know this for sure, I can only speak from my experiences, but here is my experience.
The month of October was a very strenuous one for me. During that month, on top of the regular stresses from school and work, my university had its homecoming, my best friend Nora came to visit me, and of course, the grand finale: Halloweekend. That is three weekends back-to-back of celebration, dancing, slick back ponytails, meeting new people, spending money I shouldn’t be spending, and just having fun. I enjoyed each weekend and now have fond memories to tell my children one day, but at what cost? With all those events happening back-to-back and school in between, I barely had time to rest, reflect, or recover. By the end of October, I was a zombie walking into the event, absolutely exhausted and running on fumes, but making sure to make the most of the moments.
At what cost? At the cost of my poor hair being pulled back and not properly cared for, the cost of my poor wallet, my social battery, absolutely drained, barely able to phone home for more than five minutes, headache after headache, it was awful. At the cost of my entire body, legs hurting from hours of dancing, ears ringing from the loud music, my body couldn’t take it anymore. The first day of November, I got a fever of 101 degrees, and honestly, I took a sigh of relief.
When the Body says Stop
Though my nose runny, my head achey, my chest wheezy, and my brain foggy, all I could say was “I needed this”. My body needed to knock itself down and work extra hard to cleanse my body from the lifestyle stess. I feel as if I needed to be sick in order to properly SIT MY ASS DOWN. My body needed time to recover from the entire month of October, needed time to rest and remember that I’m just a person and a person must take care of herself. I’m not a doctor, but I feel as though the body will always take care of itself, knock you down when you need to be knocked. I appreciate her endlessly for this. Finally, a break, and at the perfect time, a time where I had space to breathe and not stress so much over Earthly problems. I’m so thankful.
Sick me had the chance to finish her book (when I catch you Dostoyevsky, we’re going to have some words) and start a new one. One about the travels of the soul, that puts into perspective the beauty of the world we live in and the promise of peace. I was able to take more baths. One of my favorite ways to heal! I’m a huge water person, and a bath with incense, candles, and sound frequencies is going to do it for me every time. I had time to rest. Many naps were taken, and I slept mostly well. I was able to call my dad and ask him about the medicines I should be taking, the foods I should be eating, and the little rituals I should be doing each hour (going outside and breathing 3-4 times, wearing copper jewelry, etc.) I was also able to call extended family and talk for a bit, and it is always so sweet remembering you’re surrounded by so much love.
All in all, not only was I able to heal my body, but my mind, and my soul. I am feeling extremely relaxed and at peace, and tommorrow I start back up my normal routine. It is going to be a bit of a shock to my system stepping back into capitalism, but I feel as if I have the tools to handle the situations better.
This is not to say that you shouldn’t have fun. I don’t regret the time I spent in the month of October; I only wish that I took a few moments to rest. When you’re going, going, going like that, you forget that you also need to breathe and recharge. This post is me telling you to take a deep breath before your body decides to take it for you. It’s so much fun to be All Over, but don’t forget to be Alive as well!