There seems to be a lot of truth in the statement that sometimes you don't realise what you have until you lose it. My eyes have been opened this week to the value of my health, and how I tend to take it for granted. It is all too easy when blessed with generally good health, to fail to appreciate one's body for the incredible machine it is. Mine, for the most part, maintains itself pretty efficiently. I try and eat healthily, but am nowhere near fanatical; I seek to sleep 7 hours most nights, but it doesn't always happen, and I exercise because I enjoy the endorphins it produces, rather than for weight loss or stabilisation. All in all, my body gets a modicum of respect, but is not overly attended to.
Coming down with a cold puts all this into perspective. Energy levels plummet through the floor, every joint aches and my brain feels like mush. Suddenly, even the simplest of tasks feels overwhelming and impossible. And now I reach for the supplements. Prevention is better than cure, something of a mantra to be in every other walk of life, is hardest to apply to myself. My cupboard is far from bare, with vitamins and minerals aplenty and yet until the first sniffle, or sign of a sore throat I nonchalantly omit to support my immune system.
Basic self care is something I am still mastering for myself, which is perhaps why I enquire with such regularity and enthusiasm as to its relevance for all those I work with. Just as my bicycle needs maintenance, and my car needs servicing, my body requires the same degree of interest in order to sustain it.
Eating properly and regularly, sleeping long enough and making sure I have all I need on an internal level is a precision act requiring me to pay close attention to my own vital signs. The common cold is a non negotiable go-slow, bringing into perspective the necessity for enhanced self care. “The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while Nature affects the cure.” Voltaire
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