This will be a rather short entry for reasons I'll state further down, I hope that's alright with you.
On Friday (which means 3 days ago) me and my political group held a concert/event called Rock Against Racism in our hometown. Of course, this meant that we had to do a lot of planning, organising and heavy lifting to do. During the whole process I felt like I was doing less than my friends, I wrote less emails, had a shorter list of things I had to do and as I'm really small and kind of petite I am not much help when it comes to heavy lifting either. The day before the event we had to prepare the room we had rented which meant we had to get about 400 chairs out of and a bunch of concert equipment in. I felt really down the whole day (and the day after) because of an intense argument I had with my parents and those two things combined with being up the whole Friday, organising and then also hosting the event while it was 36-38°C outside everything was just too much:
On Saturday at 3AM I got an asthma attack while carrying heavy boxes with glass bottles. It was horrific as always and I was brought to the nearest hospital where I stayed over night. The next morning at 11:30AM I was allowed to go but unfortunately, 8 hours later I was back with a second attack. Luckily, the second one wasn't as severe as the first one but it was terrible nevertheless. I didn't have to stay in hospital, I was just advised to get some rest.
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| 'Waking up in the hospital'-selfie |
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| 'Evening at the hospital'- selfie |
(Yeah, I took pictures when I felt good again, I tried to distract myself)
Today I went to my doctor for a check-up and she thinks I got the attacks not because of the heavy lifting but because of the emotional stress which sounds very plausible. Sooo now I'm on pain killers (my lungs hurt a lot at the moment...) and tranquilisers that will hopefully calm me down and prevent my fear of getting another attack from crawling back up. I try to focus on calming things like blogging, reading, watching TV series and sleeping of course and hopefully in a few days I'm gonna be back on track.
So, what do I want to achieve by this post? I think I want to say take care of yourself! No matter what's going on in your life, it's probably not worth your mental and physical health. Give 100%, not 120% and take your time to do nothing. Nothing at all. Also, treat people with kindness, you don't know how hard their day might have been. Forgive. Calm down. Relax. Be happy.
It's harder than you think.
Have a great day,
The Countess
Stress and anxiety will kill us, i see it from myself i turn out a total different person - physically & emotionally - and i wish i wasn't like that. But meditation helped me a lot maybe. It will not make miracles from Monday to Thursday but it sure will help. I wish you nothing but a healthy life because, after all, is what we need the most. Take care dear :)
ReplyDeleteI'm answering a month late, wow, I'm so sorry. Thank you for your kind words and yes, meditation does indeed help!
DeleteGiving 120% is, unfortunately, very common in our modern age. In Chinese Medicine there is the rule to only give 70%, but give it every day. You don't over tax your energy and always leave a little left for other tasks- like cooking, crafting, having fun, etc- or emergencies. That way you have enough to practice again tomorrow without needing a day of rest and recovery. Eventually, without you noticing, your 70% will grow to eclipse your original 120%.
ReplyDeleteTake care of yourself, Countess. To agree with Magda, meditation is a wonderful way to calm the mind and put everything in perspective. Even just focusing on breathing with your belly while you read can do wonders. But if you want a fast way to calm your racing thoughts: exhale completely and don't inhale for a count of three. The burn of having no oxygen in the lungs focuses you on your body better than just holding your breath with inflated lungs.
Let us know what you find to work to calm you down and stay healthy.
The whole idea to give 70% every day is great, I never thought about it this way but you really do have a point! I will keep that in mind!
DeleteI know what you mean, I try so hard, maybe sometimes too hard, and it is exhausting. Take care of yourself!
ReplyDeleteWe should just all take time and try to get everything back in focus. Nothing, no exams, no deadlines, not the best cause in the world is worth our mental and physical health. Take care too!
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