Hello from outside on the patio of my in-law’s home in South Florida. It’s 79, partly cloudy, and I’m looking out at the river as the sounds of wind and gently moving water make this a completely relaxing experience. I know I’m on break from content creation, especially video, but I felt compelled to write today, mainly because I don’t have much else to do at the moment.
You see, 2 days ago I tested positive for COVID. After 2 years of an abundance of caution… such is life. I caught it from my husband who caught it from somewhere else. We think it was the first hockey game we went to, but his symptom turnaround was only 48 hours so we aren’t exactly sure. He took a test Thursday and was negative despite symptoms, so I figured it was just a cold and foolishly didn’t put any effort into keeping my distance. He tested again Saturday and was positve. I knew then that I was doomed, despite my testing negative on Saturday. Pro tip: take your test at least 5 days post-presumed exposure. That’s when you’ll test positive if you have it.
Anyway, thankfully I was totally asymptomatic the day of my positive test. 24 hours later I had body aches that required ibuprofen, but they were the kind of body aches that could have been a COVID symptom, could have been a CMT symptom, or could have been because I haven’t done much by the way of activity the last 3 days. Today, 48 hours post-positive, I feel like I have a cold. No cough, no breathing issues, but without the help of Sudafed (the stuff you have to buy at the pharmacy. It’s the only way to go, trust me) my nose is running like a faucet. Given I know people personally who have come very close to death from this illness, I count myself beyond lucky to have such a mild case. Shoutout to my vaccines. For reference, I’m vaxxed and boosted, and was going to plan to get a second booster, but I guess that has to wait now.
Why am I telling you this? Isn’t this post supposed to be about rest?
Rest, and lots of it has basically been forced on me over the last 48 hours. By some miracle, neither of my in-laws has tested positive, so we COVID patients have been secluded to 2 specific areas of the house. My husband is already 5 days out from the onset of symptoms, so he’s allowed around more of the house than I am (masked of course), but what once was his quarantine area is now mine. I did spend some time pacing around the room to get steps in, but overall I’ve been laying low, and I am finding it to be both incredibly frustrating and very valuable at the same time.
For those of us that don’t take long rests easily, it can be a really hard thing to embrace. All I want to do is something that feels productive, despite the fact I am off of work. I want to work out, I want to be able to cook meals or make banana bread out of those rotting bananas in the kitchen. I want to have the power to go somewhere, or even sit in the same room as my MIL and watch TV together. Instead, it’s me and miss Gracie in our little spot.
It’s frustrating.
But as I sit out here in the calm of this Florida day, I also am very thankful for the opportunity to embrace rest in a way I haven’t embraced it in a long time. To be honest with you, I can’t exactly remember how long it’s been since I have had a sickness that has taken me down enough to warrant any days of just resting, which is a blessing and I praise God for my good health, but also…wow…I don’t remember the last time I slowed down.
This has turned into the opportunity to do just that. I’ve spent time reading. I’ve listened to several modules of a course I’m in. I started a watercolor course in Procreate. Yes, I’ve spent a little too much time scrolling my phone and getting lost in Harry Potter themed YouTube content, but hey, it’s relaxing to me. I’ve also allowed myself to sleep in as long as I wanted. My husband and I finished our Harry Potter audiobook journey and watched 2 Harry Potter movies (while he was + and I wasn’t yet). Heck, I’m writing a blog post entirely because I want to! It has been a true break.
We had plans to go to all the places, and do a lot of things, and while it would have been experiences and adventures, it would not have been REST. Don’t get me wrong, we still have plans to go do a few things once we are allowed to integrate back into society (I’m looking at you, Harry Potter World), but I was given the gift of rest before an adventure. Of calm before energy-zapping chaos.
I haven’t worked out in days. As it currently stands, it’s 2:30 pm and I have 1700 steps today, and you know what? The world has not ended, I haven’t gained 5 lbs, and I haven’t taken giant steps backward in my goals. Actually, I woke up this morning 1 pound lighter than I was yesterday, which tells me that this rest might be exactly what my body has been craving.
Nothing horrible has happened because I have been forced to rest for a week. Nothing.
I can’t tell you how freeing that is to me.
I just felt the need to share that with you today. I will be continuing to take this opportunity for some deep rest. My goal is to return to you in June energized, fired up, and truly ready to rock and roll, with burnout being far, far away because I finally gave it what it was telling me I needed months ago. It took catching COVID to get it done, but at least it’s happening.
Take care, stay healthy, and I’ll see you soon!
