I'm back!

Wow, that case of Shingles kicked me down hard, but I'm finally recovered and happy to be back at work. I've discovered that I have lovely clients who are very patient.  Thank you to all of you who kindly waited for me to reschedule your appointments.  It feels so good to be back at work and feeling back to myself!

But, I did learn a few lessons while I was battling the Shingles:

1) I'm such a baby.  I hate being sick and I can get a little whiny.  Thank God my husband has a lot of patience.

2) My kids can do a lot more for themselves than I give them credit.  One day, I couldn't even get out of bed to pack lunches, and my husband, trying to balance everything else, forgot.  And so my little 2nd and 3rd graders packed their own lunches.  One even threw in an apple!

3) I have really good friends who brought over meals and watched my kids for me so I could sleep and throw up in peace :)

4) I need to do less.  When the doctor diagnosed me, he said, "I rarely see Shingles in someone as young as you.  Are you under stress?"  I wanted say, "Gee, let me think.  I have three kids under 8.  I do readings and teach classes, manage 4 work email accounts, keep a blog, a weekly live radio show and a monthly newsletter and volunteer each week at my kids' school.  Stressed?  No, of course not."  Instead, I just nodded quietly.

Ah, stress, my angry sister, you are back.  And so I've realized that while I may talk the talk, I do not walk the walk.  Yes, I make time for myself.  But only after I've made time for my family, my friends, my clients, my jobs and my pets.  Then, and only if there's time, will I do something for myself.  Well, no more.  I am now vowing to spend lots of time each day doing nothing productive.  I've found great stress relief in just sitting to pet my cat, in taking my dog for a walk, in mindlessly flipping through a magazine and not feeling guilty for wasting time.

I hope some of you busy readers out there will learn this lesson from me before a nasty illness "helps" you learn it for yourself.  If we don't give our body the rest it deserves, it will find a way to get it.

So for now, I'm well rested and happy to go back to my magazine!