I’m in my third day of a head cold, and thus far my aggressive attempt to muscle through it hasn’t gotten me very far. Gallons of water, vitamin C and Echinacea – normally reliable remedies– have let me down. My energy level seems to have declined in direct proportion to the increase in sinus congestion. So, after a feeble attempt at working out I decided a long, hot shower might help clear my head and maybe even shake the chill that has been with me since the arctic blast blew through the south earlier this week. The shower did both . . . but only for about ten minutes.
It was then I decided to do something I hadn’t done in years; I put on a fresh pair of pjs and declared a sick day. I went to the kitchen and put a kettle on since now that I was officially sick, a cup of hot tea seemed appropriate. While waiting for the water to boil I studied my day planner. I crossed off today’s workout and everything else was easily moved to next week since let’s face it, these days most of my tasks and their associated deadlines are only of importance to me. I should have felt good, or at least relieved, that allowing myself a sick day was so easy. I can remember once upon a time being envious of all those “non-essential” employees that got to take the day off when it snowed and the city shut down. Suddenly I felt “non-essential”. As I took my mug of hot tea into the hearth room, clicked on the fireplace and snuggled under my favorite faux-fur blanket, my heart was a little heavy.
This whole Chapter 3 thing was about freeing myself from obligations so I could pursue the pleasures I so often found myself having to forgo. And I’m certainly enjoying that freedom, so determined to shake off the melancholy I reached for the new People magazine and started flipping through it. Finding it of little interest I traded the magazine for a book on the table beside my chair. The Way of the Writer by Charles Johnson. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have stacks of books at the ready. Beside my chair in the hearth room, most are of a personal development nature – how to be better at a multitude of things from healthy eating to home decorating to my newest passion, writing. Beside my bed, the physical stack has been replaced by a Kindle filled mostly with fiction for nighttime reading. My iPhone holds the Audible versions of biographies and memoirs – I love listening to autobiographies in the author’s own voice.
It’s not uncommon for me to be reading or listening to five or six books at any given time. But what is unusual is for me to pick up a book and read for nearly three hours right in the middle of the day. I was amazed when I realized so much time had passed; first, that I actually sat still for that long and secondly, that no one had interrupted me. It felt like such an indulgence since my daytime reading was normally limited to short, stolen moments between loads of laundry or while I’m waiting for an appointment.
But my real excitement was that today’s rest and relaxation seemed to have somehow freed my mind and I was suddenly full of ideas for new projects and activities for the next few months. Ranging from topics for future blog posts, a concept for a new Facebook page focused on healthy living, a possible way to resuscitate my lilac bush that our new puppy has all but destroyed, and an approach for tackling spring cleaning so it doesn’t completely consume me for the next two months. . . my thoughts were random and they kept coming. I grabbed a notebook and began jotting them down while they flowed prolifically from my stuffy head.
I was thrilled; this was clearly the most productive day I’ve had in a long time. Unfortunately, the down-time did little to help my cold; I’m guessing it’s just going to have to run its course. But the hours spent reading, brainstorming, and planning were priceless. Not to mention I got to spend the whole afternoon in my pjs. It’s a safe bet sick days are going to be a regular part of Chapter 3.
