As most of my friends know by now (I am quite vocal on Facebook and of course my co-workers hear me probably from the next room!) I've been fighting a nasty cold for the last week.
It's a rather unsettling feeling to wake up feeling like you're drowning. Panic instantly sets in and you struggle to breathe, coughing and gagging until the airways allow you to function. Then the coughing reflex is so strong and the adrenaline so high that you can't get back to sleep. As I type, it's 5:30 a.m. and I have been awake for an hour and a half.
Oh well. At least I can blog. (LOL).
Being sick has left me more vulnerable to emotional outbursts; my immune system is in high gear and I am weaker physically (the least effort exhausts me) so emotionally it's been a challenge. It's a challenge especially since I turned the page on the calendar yesterday morning to the month of October and saw that the 22nd had a sunset drawn (by my own hand) on it, signifying the death of our daughter on that date last year. (To understand a bit more about that, you can read the post I wrote on it shortly after we got the news.)
And "losing it" emotionally is like drowning as well. Oh to be sure, I will advocate for rigorous honesty in admitting to and experiencing whatever emotion is there, because emotions signal that something needs attention.
I'm not changing that stance. However, I guess what I'm saying is that it isn't easy; and, it wasn't intended to be. Sometimes I need to "get it out" just like I need to (pardon the graphic example but it's what I'm living just now) get the phlegm out. And take vitamins. And try to eat nutritious food. All so I can breathe again ... even if it means that the symptoms get a bit worse temporarily from something I eat that I know is good for me.
Chicken noodle soup has become a current favorite, by the way.
(But you wouldn't want to see me eat it at the moment.)☺
Yes, I'm sad more these days. That's normal. Grief is normal. So ... I cry. And I feed my soul with inspiring words and music. And I am honest about how I feel ... honest with myself primarily, because when that happens, it's more okay to be honest with those who I know care about me. It's all part of self-care, of being okay with what is and not denying it, and doing what I need to do to look after myself. When I do that, I find that I have more spiritual resources on tap to share with those who might need a listening ear.
Allowing myself to BE sad, or angry, or hurt - and practicing self-care while I'm doing that (even if it feels like I'm at the mercy of the "waves") - frees my inner self to experience happiness, and excitement, and forgiveness, and peace, and joy, ... and love. If I shut off one kind of emotion, my brain shuts off the rest of them; I don't want to run the risk of turning that part of myself off! So - as inconvenient as it is at times - I try to accept the bad when it happens, and accepting it makes me able to appreciate the good even more when THAT happens.
And - even when I feel that I'm drowning in the sadness - it DOES happen.
The last year has been living proof of that. I've been rescued from drowning ... by so many people and in so many situations that I've lost count. And by my faith which, in spite of the heartache (or maybe because of it!) has grown. And because of the help I've received, I've been able to help others who feel the waves of circumstance billowing over them: people I never would have been able to understand - much less help - before.
To those who have reached out a hand and let me be me (whoever that "me" is at the time) ... and to those to whom I have reached out (and been strengthened in the process!) ... I can only say one thing. And it seems so trite, so lame. Yet ... it's all I have.
THANK YOU.
It's a rather unsettling feeling to wake up feeling like you're drowning. Panic instantly sets in and you struggle to breathe, coughing and gagging until the airways allow you to function. Then the coughing reflex is so strong and the adrenaline so high that you can't get back to sleep. As I type, it's 5:30 a.m. and I have been awake for an hour and a half.
Oh well. At least I can blog. (LOL).
Being sick has left me more vulnerable to emotional outbursts; my immune system is in high gear and I am weaker physically (the least effort exhausts me) so emotionally it's been a challenge. It's a challenge especially since I turned the page on the calendar yesterday morning to the month of October and saw that the 22nd had a sunset drawn (by my own hand) on it, signifying the death of our daughter on that date last year. (To understand a bit more about that, you can read the post I wrote on it shortly after we got the news.)
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| Photo "Sinking In To Water" courtesy of koratmember at www.freedigitalphotos.net |
And "losing it" emotionally is like drowning as well. Oh to be sure, I will advocate for rigorous honesty in admitting to and experiencing whatever emotion is there, because emotions signal that something needs attention.
I'm not changing that stance. However, I guess what I'm saying is that it isn't easy; and, it wasn't intended to be. Sometimes I need to "get it out" just like I need to (pardon the graphic example but it's what I'm living just now) get the phlegm out. And take vitamins. And try to eat nutritious food. All so I can breathe again ... even if it means that the symptoms get a bit worse temporarily from something I eat that I know is good for me.
Chicken noodle soup has become a current favorite, by the way.
(But you wouldn't want to see me eat it at the moment.)☺
Yes, I'm sad more these days. That's normal. Grief is normal. So ... I cry. And I feed my soul with inspiring words and music. And I am honest about how I feel ... honest with myself primarily, because when that happens, it's more okay to be honest with those who I know care about me. It's all part of self-care, of being okay with what is and not denying it, and doing what I need to do to look after myself. When I do that, I find that I have more spiritual resources on tap to share with those who might need a listening ear.
Allowing myself to BE sad, or angry, or hurt - and practicing self-care while I'm doing that (even if it feels like I'm at the mercy of the "waves") - frees my inner self to experience happiness, and excitement, and forgiveness, and peace, and joy, ... and love. If I shut off one kind of emotion, my brain shuts off the rest of them; I don't want to run the risk of turning that part of myself off! So - as inconvenient as it is at times - I try to accept the bad when it happens, and accepting it makes me able to appreciate the good even more when THAT happens.
And - even when I feel that I'm drowning in the sadness - it DOES happen.
The last year has been living proof of that. I've been rescued from drowning ... by so many people and in so many situations that I've lost count. And by my faith which, in spite of the heartache (or maybe because of it!) has grown. And because of the help I've received, I've been able to help others who feel the waves of circumstance billowing over them: people I never would have been able to understand - much less help - before.
To those who have reached out a hand and let me be me (whoever that "me" is at the time) ... and to those to whom I have reached out (and been strengthened in the process!) ... I can only say one thing. And it seems so trite, so lame. Yet ... it's all I have.
THANK YOU.
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