Week One {cough, cough, FAIL}
- Jan 16, 2017
- 3 min read
When I say cough, cough, Fail, I literally mean I was coughing all this week. Be it the weather or that I visited the germ infested doctor's office, I've got the flu. Mhmm, yep. Not fun.
Here I was so excited to be starting Elsie's Element again, and I found myself sicker than a dog. It sounds stupid but I was actually kind of mad at myself for getting sick. I had such high expectations for my self and the start over of this blog that I was mad when I wasn't able to accomplish it. I was going to Instagram and be active on Tumblr & Pinterest everyday. Not only did I have blog expectations, but I has other expectations for the week as well. For crying out loud, I was going to make cheesecake for our belated family Christmas and chocolate chip cookies for the neighbor kids. Like I said, I had such high expectations for myself.
While I was sitting in a pile of self pity and mucus (sorry for that), I reminded myself that I wanted this year to be one of wellness. I will get unexpectedly get sick. It is a part of life. It is how I respond to it that will determine the outcome of it. I could take this time to rest and heal, and in turn give my body what it needs to fight this nasty flu. Or I could ignore it and make myself and everyone around me unhappy (and probably sick). Since taking a bunch of public health courses and knowing the epidemiology of how fast this nastiness can be spread, I decided to choose the first option.
"Be gentle with yourself, you're doing the best you can."
Not only was I doing it because I care about others health, but I was doing it because I cared about my health as well. No matter what else is going on or what expectations you might have set for yourself, your wellbeing comes first. You only have one body. You need to love and cherish and nurture it.
You NEED to treat yourself like your parents used to take care of you as a kid. If you were like me, I didn't matter what illness I had all I wanted to do was play. But luckily my parents made me watch movies, sleep, eat chicken wild rice soup. My parents were taking care of practicing wellness for me. Now, as an adult, I need to continue to practice wellness for myself. Ugh, #Adulting is hard.
So instead of feeling sorry for myself, I thought I'd make something good out of this. You know, making lemonade out of lemons. I thought I could make this into a post that could encourage others to practice wellness, even when they or the world has set other expectations for them.
To get you started I came up with a list of my must haves for when I am feeling down in the dumps.
A) TEA
ALL THE TEA. My personal favorite right now is Cinnamon Tempest Black Tea by Trader Joe's. It may not be the tea that is recommended for those with the flu, but it tastes so good. And it's a fluid, so it can't be that bad.
B) COUGH DROPS
When I was younger all I cared about was that the cough drops I had to take tasted good. Now, all I care about is if it can cool my throat and stop me from coughing for longer than five seconds. So I've recently been loving the Halls Cherry Cough Drops.
C) SINUS MEDS
When I'm sick, these sinus meds are literally the MVP. Sinus headaches and sinus pressure has nothing on these little pills. Everyone reacts differently to meds, but I have found that the Advil Sinus Relief has been the best on my sinus. It is definitely worth it to find which sinus med works well for you.
D) BATH SALTS
Achy muscles? Bath salts are where it's at. I found this Lavender Bath Salts sample a few weeks ago at Target for less than 5$. Who knew that I would need it a few weeks later to help relieve some muscle aches.
E) ROBE
My robe is what I latch onto when I am feeling under the weather. It is this soft plush fabric that makes you feel like you are in a constant snuggle. Which, I feel, is a necessity when you are sick. Just make sure to wash it after you feel better.
How do you like to like to nurture your body when you are sick?
Remember you're a Gem (even when you're sick),
<3 Elsie
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