“You’re fine. Work for awhile, and you’ll feel better.”
“It’s just a cold. Don’t be such a baby.”
“OMG, sleep enough?” “Lazy much?”
“How are you ever going to finish….?”
Ahh, the inner voice, that dear friend we spend so much time with. I got sick on Monday morning. Well to be precise, I got sick overnight Sunday to Monday – waking up repeatedly to sneeze and then to find tissues and an extra blanket. I was definitely sick.
But then again, I could probably soldier on, right? We all have an inner voice with us most of the time, not just when we’re sick. But when you’re sick, you might be more aware of yours. The last time you got sick… what was you inner voice telling you?
- It’s nothing. Don’t be so lazy.
- Take care of yourself.
- Poor me, I’m a victim.
- Even if you wanted a day off, there’s no way. Just suck it up, and get going.
Mine happened to be kind this past Monday. (All that coaching and therapy finally paid off.) And for some sweet reason, this cold gave me a permission slip to do nothing. Nothing at all. It was like a snow day. Of course, I was sick, so there’s that. But other than the obvious down side, my brain was permitted to run free, play. I wasn’t required by my inner voice to keep trying to get up, to test to see if I’m really sick or just being lazy. I wasn’t required by my inner anxieties to run a list of all the things i could/should be doing. I was free, and it was lovely. I started reading things I’d been meaning to look at, and had ideas for things I wanted to write.
I want to thank my inner voice for laying low on Monday, and just getting a little more het up on Tuesday and Wednesday. I’m back in fighting form, and I’m eager to get back to my agenda, instead of overwhelmed, behind and behind the eight ball.
Illness gives us an insight into our inner voice – how it is, and how it’s changed. How do you feel when you’re sick? Not the sickness itself, but about the fact of being sick? What is your inner voice saying to you? Does your story sound anything like one of the four narratives above? If so, or if you have another narrative running through your mind, how does it show up at other challenging times in your life? How does it serve you? How does it tie you up in knots?