Have you noticed that when you feel sick (and really need to take care of yourself) is when you feel least interested taking care of yourself? It actually makes a lot of sense. When we are most depleted is when our immune systems finally give in to the omnipresent microbes in our environment. And when we are depleted, and on top of it feeling the symptoms of a cold, we just want someone to take care of us.
Unfortunately, most of us don’t have someone that is able to drop everything and tend to our healing. So, we may feel even worse because we are unsupported, and then we can go down the whole spiral of downward sentiments about where we are in life. When you are depleted, you’re more sensitive too.
So what can we do? There are a bunch of natural cold remedies that are quite effective in helping you to recover faster and suffer less. But, I’m speaking more here of the emotional experience of being down and under.
1. Find the gifts in the experience. I personally believe that everything that happens in my life is for me to learn some lessons along my spiritual path. So when I find myself in an unsavory situation, I look for the lessons to move through it gracefully. What could be the gifts in the experience of getting sick? Maybe you really needed to rest? Maybe you’d been operating in overdrive, or were totally disconnected from your self care regimen? Maybe it was a good practice for you to ask for help, which you may not have done if your weren’t sick? By focusing on the gifts of the experience, you can frame the situation in a way that is empowering and growth-based (which leads into my next tip…)
2. Shed the victim archetype. Naturally, when you don’t feel good, it’s easy to slip into victim mentality. Why did this happen to me? Why did this have to happen now? But, this mentality is not going to help you heal. The purpose of my life is to experience joy, and to spread that in the ways that are my gifts and talents. Before I can emanate the joy, I have to feel it. In order to get to a place where you feel empowered to create joy in your life (especially as your primary purpose), you have to take full accountability for everything that happens (including colds). It’s only when I take responsibility for my immune system breaking down that I can empower myself to make changes that will prevent that from happening again. So, accept that this is your doing, and figure out what you could have (and will) do differently to support your health.
3. Be nice and understanding to yourself and when others around you are sick. What’s up with this “power through it culture?” We need a cultural shift in a big way, or we are looking at nastier bugs with more mutations and greater drug resistance (more virulent and harder to get rid of). This is why people are not fully recovering and relapsing for weeks. Imagine telling your family members, and employees to take it easy and offer your help to allow them to be at peace so they can heal. Imagine your boss or family members telling you “don’t worry, we’ll take care of everything, go rest.” That’s a culture that understands we are only as happy and productive as we are well, instead of one that has people miserably sick before they can retire. It starts one person at a time, so take care of someone, and set an example by prioritizing your health.
Related Posts:
Recovering as fast as you can from a cold
What to do at the start of a cold
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