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Forced to slow down

Posted on January 23, 2006 by Sarah Eaton.

There's nothing like a good respiratory flu to completely knock you on your a** for a week and make you reflect.

These are my stages of illness:

Denial--I can't be sick.  I have far too much to do.  I will try to get up and do these things anyway, only to feel worse.

Acceptance, mixed with denial--Okay, I'm sick today, but I will be fully recovered tomorrow.  Move all of my appointments.  Rail against disease.

Acceptance, mixed with fear--I'm still sick?  How could I still be sick?  What's wrong with me?  Am I dying?  Probably I'll be better tomorrow, so move all of my appointments.

Now, this is the farthest I've gone in the stages of sickness in a good long while (because I'm generally not sick for any longer than two or three days), but apparently I had something to learn over the last week, so I made it to the fourth stage, which is simply:

Acceptance--I've been to the doctor.  I know I'm not going to be well for at least three more days.  There's no point in fighting it.  Let it wash over me and start to care about Days of our Lives and Starting Over because this is all I can care about, seeing as how my brain doesn't work right when you think about work, so there's no point in thinking about it.  Just be sick.

Recovery is stage five, of course.

It's strange how today, even though my body is still physically not up to par, my brain feels far more nimble and clear than it did before I succumbed to illness.  It was like an extremely unpleasant retreat.

So while I'm not going to recommend the flu to anyone (and I hope I didn't inadvertently do so to anyone in my office), in hindsight (once the muscle aches and incessant coughing are under control), it might have been good for me.

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January 23, 2006 in award winning blog, award winning design, award winning magazine, Award winning publications, Blog Outsourcing, build credibility, Business Marketing, Business newsletter, Business publications, CMO, company newsletter, Corporate Blogging, create a newsletter | Permalink

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