You may have noticed that I've been a bit preoccupied this last month or so. If you skim over my February posts it reads like a tragic medical journal interspersed with equal parts whining and stories about dog pee. The fact is, I have spent most of the past four weeks feeling totally rotten. I can say this with complete honesty - I can't remember ever being so sick. You know how you get nauseous, or eat something bad, or find yourself with your, uh, 'other end' stuck to the toilet and you're utterly miserable for a day or two but then you spring back to life just as soon as the 'ick' leaves the system? It wasn't like that at all. I'm Boss Mama. I don't get sick. And if I happen to have the audacity to do so, I tend to 'suck out the (metaphorical) poison' myself and just get on with it.
Oh, how I've been humbled! After weeks of misery - which in the grand scheme of things (like world hunger and the global financial meltdown) really doesn't rate at all - I am finally on the 'other side'. And it feels fantastic. But I learned a whole bunch of interesting stuff along the way, which I present to you now:
It's Okay To Be Still
If you're a homemaker like me, you have your finger on the pulse of everything that goes on around you. You know what's for dinner, who forgot to hand their homework in and how many days you can last on the last two rolls of toilet paper (answer: not many!) You're used to being in control. When illness enters into the picture, you realise quite suddenly that you are, in fact, not in ultimate control. Some illnesses can be eased by medications or home remedies, but others just involve a waiting game. It's a horrible, miserable time, but you get through it and ultimately, you come to the understanding that you are not the centre of the universe and your loved ones won't starve or go to school naked. Relax your standards. Or, if you're like me, ignore them altogether!
Allow Others To Shine
My husband was a lifesaver during my worst week. He was still working (though he didn't want to), so I still had to leave the house twice a day for the school run, and that short half-hour trip would send me into fits of coughing and sobbing for an hour and a half. He would call to see if he could pick up something on his way home, he helped with the housekeeping, he came home early from work one day (and his job is not one that he can readily do this) and then took the next day off to care for me, he even wielded a frypan once or twice (I would get sick more often if I thought I could reliably tap into this!). In short, he became Mr Mom, and it was lovely to witness, both from my perspective but also the kids'. He didn't bring me flowers or chocolates, but that's not what I needed - I couldn't taste or smell anyway. Men hate it when we say this, but it really is the little things that stick in our memories - I'll remember the dishwasher-unloading for a long, long time.
Stay Humble
I certainly wasn't in any position to think about this while in the throes of sickness myself, but now that I'm on the flip side, I totally get it. Stay humble. I had pneumonia, but I had access to excellent, low-cost medical care (remind me to talk about Australia's system one day), more doctors than I could point a stick at (and when I didn't get my Magic Bullet pill, I really, really wanted to poke them with a stick!), x-rays and a plethora of medications designed, pretty much, with my sole comfort in mind. While I suffered on my couch, millions of people the world over were without access to medical care of any type. In the time I've taken to write this post, thousands of people in under-developed countries will have died from diseases we in the West would find a walk in the park with our shelves full of antibiotics, or our operating theatres. Pneumonia? May as well have been a mosquito bite.
Keep Things In Perspective
On February 7th and 8th, the state of Victoria was the scene of Australia's worst ever bushfires. The death toll from this tragedy stands at 210 (with around 30 people still unaccounted for) - many killed trying to defend their homes from furious fires that surrounded them without warning. The news has been littered with images of burnt out cars on the sides of roads. People died in cars trying to get to safety, the thought of which clutches at my heart. People had car accidents trying to flee and lost their only means of escape - there was one iconic image in the media of a cluster of cars which had been involved in an accident, reduced to a mere pile of metal and ash. It's an emotional time for Australia at the moment and something that would have been utterly incomprehensible just one month ago. Amazingly, fires continue to burn in parts of the state. What was I doing on February 7th? Whining about the fact my antibiotics weren't working. The most wonderful thing to come out of this horrible situation? The Red Cross Bushfire Appeal has raised more than $100 million, some of which has come from overseas sources. This is money from the pockets of ordinary, everyday people with (in plenty of cases) tight household budgets. Two days after the initial firefront passed through, donation centres were having to turn people bringing clothes and household equipment away because they had too much. There is such nobility in the world today, even with the various financial, political and religious crisis. We keep looking for the big things, the grand gestures - Pink, for example, donated a quarter of a million dollars to the bushfire appeal - but on the news each night I kept seeing children handing over their favourite teddy bear at a donation centre, or emptying their piggy bank, or organizing fundraisers at school.
What a wonderful legacy amongst such tragedy :)
For more Motivate Me Monday goodies, say hi over at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee - Sarah Mae is hosting a giveaway for MMM participants!
Oh, how I've been humbled! After weeks of misery - which in the grand scheme of things (like world hunger and the global financial meltdown) really doesn't rate at all - I am finally on the 'other side'. And it feels fantastic. But I learned a whole bunch of interesting stuff along the way, which I present to you now:
It's Okay To Be Still
If you're a homemaker like me, you have your finger on the pulse of everything that goes on around you. You know what's for dinner, who forgot to hand their homework in and how many days you can last on the last two rolls of toilet paper (answer: not many!) You're used to being in control. When illness enters into the picture, you realise quite suddenly that you are, in fact, not in ultimate control. Some illnesses can be eased by medications or home remedies, but others just involve a waiting game. It's a horrible, miserable time, but you get through it and ultimately, you come to the understanding that you are not the centre of the universe and your loved ones won't starve or go to school naked. Relax your standards. Or, if you're like me, ignore them altogether!
Allow Others To Shine
My husband was a lifesaver during my worst week. He was still working (though he didn't want to), so I still had to leave the house twice a day for the school run, and that short half-hour trip would send me into fits of coughing and sobbing for an hour and a half. He would call to see if he could pick up something on his way home, he helped with the housekeeping, he came home early from work one day (and his job is not one that he can readily do this) and then took the next day off to care for me, he even wielded a frypan once or twice (I would get sick more often if I thought I could reliably tap into this!). In short, he became Mr Mom, and it was lovely to witness, both from my perspective but also the kids'. He didn't bring me flowers or chocolates, but that's not what I needed - I couldn't taste or smell anyway. Men hate it when we say this, but it really is the little things that stick in our memories - I'll remember the dishwasher-unloading for a long, long time.
Stay Humble
I certainly wasn't in any position to think about this while in the throes of sickness myself, but now that I'm on the flip side, I totally get it. Stay humble. I had pneumonia, but I had access to excellent, low-cost medical care (remind me to talk about Australia's system one day), more doctors than I could point a stick at (and when I didn't get my Magic Bullet pill, I really, really wanted to poke them with a stick!), x-rays and a plethora of medications designed, pretty much, with my sole comfort in mind. While I suffered on my couch, millions of people the world over were without access to medical care of any type. In the time I've taken to write this post, thousands of people in under-developed countries will have died from diseases we in the West would find a walk in the park with our shelves full of antibiotics, or our operating theatres. Pneumonia? May as well have been a mosquito bite.
Keep Things In Perspective
On February 7th and 8th, the state of Victoria was the scene of Australia's worst ever bushfires. The death toll from this tragedy stands at 210 (with around 30 people still unaccounted for) - many killed trying to defend their homes from furious fires that surrounded them without warning. The news has been littered with images of burnt out cars on the sides of roads. People died in cars trying to get to safety, the thought of which clutches at my heart. People had car accidents trying to flee and lost their only means of escape - there was one iconic image in the media of a cluster of cars which had been involved in an accident, reduced to a mere pile of metal and ash. It's an emotional time for Australia at the moment and something that would have been utterly incomprehensible just one month ago. Amazingly, fires continue to burn in parts of the state. What was I doing on February 7th? Whining about the fact my antibiotics weren't working. The most wonderful thing to come out of this horrible situation? The Red Cross Bushfire Appeal has raised more than $100 million, some of which has come from overseas sources. This is money from the pockets of ordinary, everyday people with (in plenty of cases) tight household budgets. Two days after the initial firefront passed through, donation centres were having to turn people bringing clothes and household equipment away because they had too much. There is such nobility in the world today, even with the various financial, political and religious crisis. We keep looking for the big things, the grand gestures - Pink, for example, donated a quarter of a million dollars to the bushfire appeal - but on the news each night I kept seeing children handing over their favourite teddy bear at a donation centre, or emptying their piggy bank, or organizing fundraisers at school.
What a wonderful legacy amongst such tragedy :)
For more Motivate Me Monday goodies, say hi over at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee - Sarah Mae is hosting a giveaway for MMM participants!
8 comments:
Oh, I can totally relate to your being so sick. I was sick with some kind of stomach issue from Thanksgiving through the middle of February. 20 pounds lighter, I know of what you speak.
Thank you so much for shedding light on what is really happening in Australia. We see what the media covers, but to hear the truth was quite humbling.
What great reminders. Its not bad to slow down and take care of ourselves. We shouldn't feel guilty one bit. Thank you for sharing.
Friend Chick - its every bit as bad as you've heard, and worse. The main firefront which killed so many swept through in a couple of days, but there were rolling evacuations all over the state for a good two weeks, and even now there are fires still going in places, nearly a month later.
Went to the doctor yesterday (my, uh, 'girl visit') and when I mentioned that I don't normally get sick but have had my first UTI ever, pneumonia, and general malaise in the last few months, she looked me square in the eye and said "SLOW DOWN YOU NINNY!". I love my doctor :) It's something I have to work on, this 'healthy body, healthy mind' thing. She also said I was not to think about losing weight for a few months, until my body is completely recovered from the pneumonia, or I could end up sicker. How cool is she? LOL.
same here, our family has been sick (and mostly me this time) all of december, january and half of february. as soon as i'd feel a little better, i'd get back to regular life and i'd be sick again. so frustrating! but what a great reminder to slow down and soak in what's really important.
Wow. I really sometimes forget this...It.Is.Not.All.About.Me. :-) Thank you for that!
Re-read your own post here, but ONLY read the blue headlines. That's the important stuff. Take time for you. You have been majorly ill and recovery often takes a lot longer than just the absence of symptoms. Boost yourself a little with extra Vitamin C and some cod liver oil capsules. Vitamin B will help with energy levels, (remember the ad, Berocca gives you back your b-b-bounce), but none of this will work effectively if you don't allow your body time to rest and recover. In times past a lengthy illness was followed by an equally lengthy recuperation period and I think it's a shame that people can't do this now because of work or family commitments.
Have you been living my life? ;)
Still recouperating here, too, though not nearly as sick as some have been.
What a wonderful way to put things back into perspective. Thank you SO much for sharing!
Great post - love it - totally relevant!
And you're funny too! :)
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