The Flu or a Day Off?

Being sick is a funny thing. We often wonder, where did this come from? One truth that we don’t want to admit is that there is a good chance it came from us. We needed a break.   We needed some down time. We needed some extra sleep.  But it’s not permissible to say these things.  We have to be productive all the time. We have to be superhuman.  When we’ve reached a point where we REALLY need a break and have to take one, we catch a bad cold, or the flu, or a 24 hour bug or heaven forbid, something much worse. You don’t feel comfortable telling the boss that you need an extra 5 hours of sleep because you are exhausted.  But it’s easy to tell the boss that you have been up all night with your head in the toilet.  Everyone can understand that – the boss, the significant other, the kids.  They all understand you don’t feel well and they had best leave you alone because you need the rest and because they don’t want to catch whatever you have.

It’s an easy way to get a break, but it’s not easy on you. And worse, it’s not the break you really need.  If you had just taken a day off to stay in bed and rest and maybe read a good book or watch a movie, it wouldn’t have involved sniffling, sneezing, struggling to breathe, throwing up, or any other unpleasant things that come with being sick.  But if you take that day off everyone is going to say you are lazy. Your kids will want your attention and want to stay home from nursery school because you’re home. Your significant other will think of things for you to do while you’re lounging around at home. But the truth is, you need a day every now and then when you do absolutely nothing. And you need to be able to say so.  This is true of even the most extreme type A personalities.

At least once every 6 months, schedule a day for yourself, and one for each of the members of your family. Take the day off completely. Other family members can be responsible for taking care of themselves and the kids on that day. The kids need a day too. One day of no school, no homework, no video games, no energy sucking idevices attached to their bodies. A day to lie around and dream and be a kid.  A day where they are your primary focus all day and you do what they want to do.

Give it a try for a year – it’s only a couple of days out of your life. If you do this instead of having the flu for 2 weeks, wouldn’t you and everyone around you be happier? So the next time you feel like you are getting sick, just give yourself a break!