Kyle’s European Adventure

So, monday night I met Carsten out for dinner, where we sat outside and enjoyed some Mexican food. (I know, how good can Mexican be, 6,000 miles away from California?! But I was craving.) I had a margarita, and by the end of the meal, I had a distinct pain in my throat.

“Oh, hell no. I am NOT getting sick.”

So, yeah, all week I was fighting a bit of a sore throat. I immediately went into self-care mode, minimizing plans, going only to German class in the morning, and then resting all afternoon and evening. I had a couple of dinners, and other low key social engagements, but each day that I woke up and still had a frog in my throat, I made drinking tea, resting and taking it easy my priority. The damn sore throat lasted until last night, with this morning (Saturday) being the first time I woke up and felt the “all clear”, that whatever bug I was fending off had officially died.

Now, anyone who knows me well knows that I love to bitch and complain about always feeling too busy. I tend to fill my time up as much as possible, always making plans, and never seeming to have a free moment. Clearly, I do this to myself, and I am grateful to have so many wonderful things to do and awesome people to spend time with, but my near constant level of activity always seems to leave me feeling run a bit ragged. 

My take-away from my sick days was this: I actually, really liked the level of activity during my sick week. Everything moved a LOT slower for me, was much less hectic, and I had a great deal more down or free time, and it was GREAT. I read, I napped, I wrote, and all in all, felt much more centered, rested, relaxed and peaceful. Knowing myself, I am pretty damn sure that I won’t usually keep to such a reduced schedule, but it is nice to have a blueprint, something I can look at when I’m feeling especially run down and say, “maybe I need to have a ‘Sore-Throat Week’.”