Despite our urges to participate in life when we’re sick, we need to focus on allowing our bodies to rest and continue exercising self-care so we can heal. Chronic illness is bad in itself but when you add the germ of the season to the mix life gets out of whack real quick.
Some things that need to be done are going to have to get done by someone else and some things we want to get done are going to have to go undone.
Some things that need to be done are going to have to get done by someone else! #selfcare
Back in 2014, I saw firsthand how important it is to accept this.
I had purchased a few beautiful mums for my garden and set them in position, still in their plastic pots. Despite my desire for healthy, blooming foliage they ended up low on the priority list that fall while I battled pneumonia. They never even got planted! Guess what. Life moved on and once my health began to return I began to prune and water the plants, hoping they would get some life back in them like was finally coming back to me.
Yes, I really wanted to get the front of the house decorated for fall. And yes, that never happened. But the amazing things that happened in this house didn’t come in the form of store-bought or even hand-made decorations. They were the really important things that make me grateful for the people inside who share this space with me.
My husband and kids took over the cooking and cleaning and kept things pretty much rolling along. My poor withered mums didn’t even cross my mind for the longest time and even if they had I wouldn’t have asked them to tend to their needs – they were already tending to mine with loving care. I barely left the bed for two and a half weeks straight and they took care of my every need and even a few of my wants and whims.
A life of chronic illness can be like planting a garden of mums. We plan and organize the way we’ll lay out the delicate seedlings. Each day we have to feed and water to maintain their health to the best of our ability. But sometimes a few of those seedlings aren’t going to make it. No matter how hard we desire the perfect garden.
What we need to appreciate is all the seedlings we’ve been watering and caring for that have come to full bloom. In my case, fertilizing a life in my home where we step in and care for each other and pick up the slack when necessary. Truly the best way I could have decorated my house!
