by Alina Boie, M.S.
This is the season when allergies and colds are back in business. For some odd reason, a couple of times a year people get sick more than usual. I am not quite sure yet what the main problem is. Is it the change of season? Is it the wind bringing all kinds of bacteria, or just people all together having trouble with their immune system? This week for example, almost everybody I know caught a cold. I could not be any different; therefore, I ended up getting very sick too. It has been a while now since I caught a bad cold however; I didn’t quite seem to miss it.
A while ago, I learned that when you expose yourself to long periods of intense work without taking a break, your body gets exhausted. Since most of us nowadays don’t seem to understand what “time to stop” or “time to rest” is anymore, our body decides for us. Therefore, when you get very tired, your immune system gets weak allowing you to get sick. Your body makes sure that by catching a cold you get to stay in bed and rest regardless if you want to or not. If you are still stubborn, and refuse to obey, it can even give you a fever, which will make you sleep and stay in bed even more. The wise thing to do is to listen to your body’s needs and respect them. Don’t deprive yourself of sleep, vitamins or rest. Otherwise, you will learn the hard way.
Always being busy and having a hectic schedule, you seem to miss so many things around you. You wake up on a Monday morning and before you know, it is the weekend again. It’s true- time does fly. Although you might not realize, you can always find good things even in the most unusual situations. Take my week for example. I had so many plans, so many projects to work on and yet, my body decided that nothing is more important now but getting sick. So, although it felt awful missing classes and I felt horrible not going to work, I learned that sometimes I just have to let go and put myself first. Luckily, knowing how to dispute irrational beliefs and replace them with more healthy ones comes in very handy at times. Although my first instinct was to say that “ I can’t stand being sick” and “I shouldn’t get sick, at least not now”, I realized that sitting there and whining will not make my cold go away. Then I realized it could be even worse. So, I learned to look at the bright side of life. Although I did not accomplish everything I planned for this week, at least I caught up with myself and rested.
When is the last time you had a date with yourself? Think about the last day when the only thing you had on your agenda was to celebrate yourself by reading a good book, or watching a good movie, or just taking a nice walk in the park. We are so busy that sometimes it’s even hard to catch up with ourselves. So make a plan and take action before you end up catching a cold too. Remember, if you are not going to get the rest you need, your body will always find a way to make you do it :) .