Mind, Body and Soul are connected, but what are we to do with this knowledge?
As I have mentioned previously, I have been ill for a long time now, which has kept me from working full-time. My full-time job is getting better, but it is a job I am sadly unqualified to accomplish. I have tried rest and relaxation, yoga and walking, pills and acupuncture, talking it out and ignoring it. I still have a long way to go. In fact, by doctor has me on sick leave until at least September, which is really disheartening, but what can I do? I will be the first to admit that I am not ready to take on a big load, so I will have to be good and patient.
Yesterday, my youngest son's kindergarden class went to Tubes & Jujubes as a pedagogical outing to work on gross motor skills. They needed parents to go along and help supervise the children and since I was not working, I decided to lend them a hand. I know that I am sick and tired, but I hoped that for one day I could put that aside, summon up all my energy and have a nice time with the kids, especially my son. I thought I would give Mind Over Matter a try and just go and not be tired. Well, it didn't exactly work, but at least I didn't collapse. Always the silver lining! :o) I actually came home with a migraine headache and took a two-and-a-half-hour nap to try to recover. I also had major knee pain, since I spent most of the day crawling around in things that were not built for big people, like this:
That orange up-and-down bridge was especially hard on my knees. Yikes!
Although I know that having a positive outlook can have a positive effect on one's health, unfortunately, I was not able to will my fatigue away. I just can't control it. At least I tried...
Another family member whose health is affected by his outlook is First Son. He didn't have a super day at school yesterday. In fact, when I asked him about it, he said that all he remembered was that his head hurt. I'm thinking it was a stress-induced headache. I am not even going to contemplate the idea that it was all only in his head because when I checked his temperature, he was running a fever of 39.4 degrees Celsius. He was just not feeling well, poor little tyke. He went to sleep early after barely touching his supper. He woke up at 6:30 this morning but still had a temperature (39 even) so I sent him back to bed and he slept until noon.
Some might say that First Son merely caught a bug at school, but after what happened yesterday, I am not going to ignore the fact that the way he felt emotionally probably had an effect on his health. I believe he worried him self sick.
Although I cannot tell First Son to work through his stress to improve his health - hey, even I can't do that, and I'm an adult! - I can at least see that he is young enough to let his body do what is necessary to heal itself. He is young and intuitive. He doesn't overthink things. Every time he gets sick, his body's response is to sleep all day. After that, he seems to get better. I guess his body just needs the rest so it can heal itself. I wonder if maybe his mind also uses the time to make sense of his world and all that has happened to him. I know it's all connected, even if he is not aware of this yet.
One thing I know is that after he slept, his temperature went down (although it seems to be climbing again this afternoon) and he says he feels better. He even says that what happened at school is okay and now that he has apologized it is forgotten. I hope this means that he will be all better by tomorrow and he can go back to school. We shall see...
In the meantime, I think that part of a healthy lifestyle is listening to one's feelings and recognizing that a stomach ache may just be the result of something that is bugging you in your heart and soul. So don't go jumping to conclusions and blaming the spinach mom made you eat for supper! ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment