I recently was sick over the weekend and it was a real bummer because it kept me from going on a planned trip to visit one of my best friends. But as the weekend went by, I realized it was all meant to be. A weekend on the couch ended up giving me a lot of insight into this simpler life I am always striving for.
When I am sick I watch a lot of movies. Pretty sure we went to Redbox three times. And cleared our DVR. All this to say, despite how much time I spent on the couch in front of the TV, I was surprised to realize how much I accomplished. I put out my Easter decorations {yep, this post was written that long ago!} and talked on the phone with my mom and another one of my best friends. I helped my husband in the yard and picked weeds with my twelve year old sister in law. The house got picked up, the dish washer was run, we ate really simply and resisted the urge to eat out. I ran errands with my husband and held his hand. We put bird seed in a feeder and cut the mistletoe out of our tree. It is amazing to look back at what I accomplished when I actually have the time to think about what I accomplished.
So often I run around with my head cut off feeling like I can never quite get to the bottom of my to-do list. Yet there is something about being forced to slow down that suddenly makes all those little things seem like less of a priority.
During my phone conversation with my friend she was sharing about a recent vacation she got to spend with her husband. Hearing about what a great time it was for them to connect I couldn’t help but be envious that I couldn’t go on vacation with my husband. I longed to connect and be free of life’s distractions, only to be with each other. And yet somehow in the midst of my sickness, I realized that I did not need an exotic location to connect with my husband. Instead I needed less distraction.
And there I was sitting sick on the couch. Allowing us to eat simple meals like bean burritos and egg salad sandwiches. I did not have a time constraint for when dinner needed to be done and I was not focused on trying a new recipe. We ate for the fact of sustenance and hunger. It is amazing how without life’s regular distractions, how much more I was able to connect with my husband. And though this is way too much TMI for this blog, it needs to be said that our time in the bedroom was also way better.
Now I realize that life cannot always be this way. I often feel like God uses sickness in my life to get my attention and that my body is reminding myself I need to slow down. But it was a reminder of what life could be like, and should be like, if I could let go of my agenda and allow myself to live. When I am not fully consumed with what needs to get done, we live simpler. I am able to connect with people. I am able to give my husband my full attention.
There is a lot of life out there to live and I might just miss it if I continue to fall prey for the world’s pressure of being busy. So often I forget what I even did that day because my mind was racing with things that needed to get done. I want to enjoy life. I want to be conscious of how I spend my days. I want to lay my head down on my pillow at the end of the day feeling fulfilled and that I lived that day with purpose. Today was one of those days and I hope to do as little as possible to repeat this day as often as I can {perhaps minus the sickness part}. Being sick has never been so good.
