With as often as most of us fly these days, every one of us could probably give the flight safety speech that we always hear at the beginning of a flight. We know to buckle up our seatbelts. We know not to smoke on the flight – even in the lavatories. And we know that in the event that oxygen masks fall from the ceiling, we must put on our own mask before helping others with theirs. Makes sense, right? But it’s not that easy to put into action.
At least, it’s not for me. Even right now, as I’m on the couch at the end of taking a sick day from work, I feel guilty for staying home sick instead of going to work. And this morning, the conversation I had with myself before I called in to work went like this:
Me: Oh, I feel so bad! My head aches, I’m dizzy, and I’m so congested!
Also Me: But with enough coffee, Zyrtec, and ibuprofen, I can probably make it through the day at work.
Me Again: But I have a board meeting tomorrow night. If I go to work today instead of staying in, resting, and taking care of myself, will I make myself so sick that I have to miss the board meeting? And if I do, won’t that put my boss in a bind?
Me (with a sigh): Okay, I’ll stay home today, so that hopefully, I’ll be better tomorrow.
In other words, I had a recognition that in order to be productive tomorrow, I needed to take care of myself today. The same thing holds true with my emotional, mental, and spiritual health – all of which are areas that I’m working on.
Now, as I’m still sick and need my rest, I won’t belabor my point. I’ll just share the corresponding quote from this week’s chapter, and move on…
Our destiny is always about loving others, or being prepared to love others. This is why we need healing so much. Unhealed wounds require our attention and we cannot focus on others while those wounds still need attention.
This post is part of a weekly discussion on Lynch, McNicol, and Thrall’s The Cure. You don’t have to read the book to weigh in on the discussion. Please feel free to share, and to go visit my co-facilitator, Jason. And as I’ve seemingly misplaced the widget, if you would like to link up your post, just post it in the comments below!
About Sarah Salter
Love your neighbor as you love yourself – meaning in the same manner. Another familiar way of expressing the same thought is obviously the old KJV language of do unto others as you would be done by, or treat others as you would want to be treated. We get that so screwed up sometimes it isn’t at all humorous – but at its root, if you knew what it meant to love yourself (most of us have defective understandings of the word “love” to start with) and did so, you then merely need to extend the thinking to include others.
Easy to preach, hard to practice, and even harder if you are starting from a deficit position as you are playing catch-up.
(((hugs)))
There’s an oil for what ails ya! ;-P I do hope ya get to feeling better!
I suffer from the same sense of guilt at taking sick days, but my coworkers are quick to remind me to stay home cuz they don’t want to catch what ails me!
You can find my thoughts on today’s book discussion here: Unspoken Despair.
Sorry you’re sick. That’s a powerful quote. One I needed reminding of.
That’s a great practical example, Sarah! We can often buy into the lie that there is not enough time or energy to take care of ourselves and let Him heal the wounds. What’s really terrible is because we refuse there are those who don’t get to receive the love of God they so desperately need so they can find healing and freedom. Do it in me, Lord! Feel better, Sarah. 🙂