We often say our bodies teach us things. Well, yesterday, my body told me it has a nasty stomach flu. Nasty enough to require me to sit around all day and try to rest. As an American, I find something agitating about a day without so-called “productivity.” So, with very little to do except watch TV and chew on ice chips, I pondered my sickness on commercial breaks. I often write about how the body matters in regards to keeping healthy habits, but we can also learn about our bodies when we don’t feel so well. But the body matters just as much, if not even more, when it suffers from some ailment. The sick body can tell us that rest and healing matters.
Our bodies tell us of our inherent value, regardless of our productivity. While sitting around doing nothing can make us feel useless, we have to realize that our worth comes from the fact that God made us in His own image and likeness, not from the work we produce. Whatever spreadsheet I have to fill out (or blog I have to write) can wait until I feel well enough to do so. We should be able to rest without feeling guilty for taking care of our bodies. While we shouldn’t take advantage of this principle to get out of work, we should remember that our bodies deserve more care than our work.
If we don’t take care of our bodies, we will have to grapple with sickness even more. Sometimes, when we don’t let ourselves rest long enough, we can cause ourselves more harm than good. Ironically, sometimes, our efforts to become productive again after a sickness can cause us to become even less productive. When we take the time necessary to rest, we heal quicker, allowing us to get back to the things we need to do quicker.
We all think we want a sick day until the symptoms hit
Healing takes a lot of work. While we may feel unproductive, our body puts in a lot of work to heal us. It takes a considerable amount of energy for our body to fight off disease. That means that our bodies don’t have the energy to engage in more traditionally “productive” activities. We can allow ourselves to rest from the other worries of our day while we put in the work of getting better.
So, remember to listen to your body when you’re sick. And the next time you’re sick, allow yourself time to heal. Your body will thank you.
How I spent about 3 days
Chris Tarantino is the Communications Director for TOBET. He studied History at The University at Texas A&M and has written for the Tennessee Register and Nashville Catholic.
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