One Flu Over The Cuckoo's Nest

**Photo courtesy of www.google.ca**

Being sick is...sickening. A cold/flu invades your body, forcing it into a state of homeostasis and hibernation. Your immune system throws a party you never gave permission for with a guest list you you never invited.

The chills and body aches are nothing compared to the unwanted close and intimate relationship you've forged with your toilet. Not to mention coughing up a lung, blowing your nose til it bleeds, and having a cotton mouth that dares to strangulate you because of the need to breathe, solely, from the mouth...for days. Spectacular (mind the sarcasm).

I managed to 'joyfully' experience both a cold and flu in the span of six weeks. While I managed to soldier through the cold and, somewhat, navigate work with most of my brain cells intact, the flu was a whole other mess. While I'm now in the final stretch of the flu, thankfully, I was completely useless in the midst of it. Having no energy or real thought processes, however, did offer something that I found comforting.

Relief. An audible sigh of relief came as my body succumbed to the flu that had taken over. In the few days of having it, I had no worries or anxieties and even though it wasn't the most ideal way to achieve calm, it did have a way of clearing my mind, allowing me to just...be.

I could relax and, more easily, let go of the things that had been plaguing my thoughts. My unfortunate situation had become an unexpected, but pleasant, expedition into the places of my mind that I would try and visit from time to time, but was something busyness and obligation would steal.

Without coercion, I could ponder and feel without restriction or cross examination, if only by my own reason. Consideration was given to the things I would normally fear, while overruling and dismissing them. Great and lucid logic filled my mind even as my body was weakened.

Dare I say, it was wonderful. I actually had no fear at a time I was most vulnerable. I began to think that I needed to be this incapacitated more often. I quickly realized what I had just contemplated and snapped back to reality.

In all honesty, though, there were no real pressures while being sick and as I wouldn't wish these ailments on anyone, I would recommend a time of solitude. When everything in your mind and life are completely and immediately released so that you can be still. So that you can think and feel freely, being vulnerable to yourself.

Encouragement for the week:

While a sickness is never welcome, I have come to appreciate the reprieve it offers from real life. Maybe you can relate?

I pray that you are not suffering from a serious ailment but that you are able to understand the purpose behind the down time.

If you are a Christian reading this, you know that we don't plan on becoming sick but, sometimes, God does permit certain ailments to come over our bodies so that we will be quiet and without concern. Sometimes, He allows things to get our attention. Be open to what God may be wanting to say to you during this down time.

If you are not a Christian reading this, you can look for Jesus and you will find Him and all the goodness He has for all times in your life.