"Being sick ruins everything"

I spent the better part of January 2008 with a terrible flu, cold, and respiratory infection... all while my husband was in Africa for two weeks. My son was sick too, and I have never had to care for myself and a sick baby without hubby's help. It was HORRIBLE. I love that I got to see that I can't choose a different physical experience than the one I am having (I can't wish myself all better) but I CAN work with the mind.

Being sick ruins everything.

Is it true?

No. it does not ruin everything.

How do I react when I think “being sick ruins everything”?

I hate how I feel. I hate being sick. I get resentful. I feel small and powerless. I feel zero motivation. I worry about having to cancel my speaking engagement Tuesday night. I worry about getting things done. I get upset with my son. I sit around and do nothing. I see sickness as an obstacle to everything. I feel frustrated. I feel like I need help and it’s not coming, and that makes me angry. I want homemade chicken soup and I don’t have any. I get angry. I feel like a little girl who can’t take care of herself. I try to sleep and I can’t. I feel like I am wasting my time sitting around all day. I wait all day for the day to be over. Or I wait all day for Baby to take a nap so I can be free of him. I see him as an obstacle. I feel stuck in the house. I just feel stuck. I think about all the awful things that are going to happen this week because I am sick. I see myself still sick by Friday and hating that. I see myself canceling all my appointments and just lying around like an idiot. I feel powerless.

I see my body as weak, broken, inept, incapable, and that makes me angry. My feelings rule the day. I also see myself having to take antibiotics or something because I am so sick, and that's not what I want to do. I see myself getting worse and not better.

Feel sad, angry, upset, thwarted.

Without the thought “being sick ruins everything”:

I would let my symptoms be what they are – symptoms – I would take really good care of myself – I would do whatever it takes to feel good i.e. drink a lot (of water!!), take vit C, suck on lozenges, stay warm, turn up the heat, crank up the humidifier, dress warm, drink lots of water, sit and meditate, do The Work, paint, do something crafty, keep the house clean, ask people to help me. I would clean out the fridge of all the crappy stuff in there that I am not going to eat and that makes me sick to just look at it.

I would eat warm, yummy, comforting food. Drink lots of tea. Deal with it. Be responsible for my well-being. Carry around a pack of Kleenex. Use a neti pot for my nose daily. Gargle daily. Sleep as much as I can. Ask for help with Baby.

Turn it around:

Being sick does not ruin everything.

It does not ruin how good my hair looks. LOL

It does not ruin my ability to be creative.

It does not ruin my ability to keep the house up.

I may still be able to speak by Tuesday night, even if I am sick. Who knows?

Being sick blesses everything.

Makes me take care of my body.

Being sick makes me let others help me. What a blessing.

I get to be on vacation from everything else, if I want. Hmmm… maybe I could go on vacation … somewhere warm for even just a day…

Being healthy ruins everything… ??

hmm. OK, I can see that when I am healthy it ruins my amazing opportunity to sleep all day! ;)

(Can't find any other examples here but feel free to help me out!)

oh and of course: My THINKING ruins everything.

yes. Only always. My thinking "I should feel better" (when I don't) creates a lot of stress.

My thinking makes matters worse. I put so much mental pressure on myself about what I think I 'have' to do - and when I am physically unable to do it, that way of thinking ruins the peace available in that moment.