Sometimes we don’t feel so good and that is when the real challenge to put into action all our ‘feel good’ techniques comes along!
In the last 6 weeks I’ve had two episodes of minor illnesses, nothing unusual, just a heavy cold and a horrible stomach upset, the kind of things we all get from time to time. However, it had been a long time since I’d been ill and I’d forgotten how rotten you can feel and how inconvenient it is to have to cancel arrangements and miss out on doing things you were looking forward to!
I tried to ‘accept the situation’ and to ‘relax’ into it. Acceptance definitely helps, but it didn’t come instantly! There was a fair bit of “Why now, Why me, its not fair!” going on in my head I can tell you! This was because the ‘terrible cold’ hit me during the precious week I was visiting my grandson who was only a few weeks old which meant that I saw him for less time than planned.
However these minor illness have their lessons I think. For those of us who are normally full of life it forces us to stop and to understand what it’s like to feel ill or to have less energy. I found myself thinking about my 83 year old mum and admiring how she manages to do the things she does each day. I also appreciated Tom bringing me warm drinks and being there for me, and friends and family too with kind words and offers of help. So many people don’t have these things. Finally it was just a cold! (That old chestnut perspective again playing it’s part!)
So back to our ‘feel good’ techniques! We need to know how to love ourselves in sickness as well as in health. (I think there’s a wedding vow there!) We don’t all have someone to look after us, and even if we do now, it may not always be the case. We need to know when to stop, when to rest and to learn the art of cherishing ourselves. Hot water bottles are a great aid to this and hot chocolate too! Small treats, forgiving ourselves, allowing ourselves to be less than perfect and even hibernating for a while are all healing things that we can do on our own and there are many, many more to discover I’m sure!