The Bright Side of Being Sick

I believe there is a bright side of being sick! Yesterday, I came down with some sort of stomach bug and trust me I have done my fair share of whining in the last day and a half. Ok, so then is there really a bright side of being sick? Most would argue no, definitely not! And then they would say I was crazy for saying they are wrong! I mean yeah what is so great about a cough, fever, chills, congestion, aches, puking, and the occasional runs? Alright, well when you think of all those things, yeah being sick is pretty disgusting. Seriously, who said it was okay for this nasty little bug to take up a living space inside your body, and rent free at that? When you are sick, you probably feel your worst and let's face it look your worst, while this little intruder flourishes inside of you. It's so not right! However, I would argue that there is something amazing in the way we are built. We are made to fight off diseases. We are given this immune system that basically takes care of us every second of every day and it is amazing! The things our bodies can do, when put to the test are unbelievable! So you feel like crap. Well that is your bodies response to that little intruder. And what is the pay off? You feel miserable for a few days, and you get better because your body made you feel miserable, in order to slow you down and force you to rest. Sleep is an amazing thing and you need it to repair yourself. Think about it, if we didn't have that immune response, whatever little bacteria or virus that decided to to take up residence would probably kill us, and nobody wants that. When I find myself being a cry baby over being sick, I just stop to think about what exactly it is that my body is doing, and it makes me smile. And then I think, well I probably needed to rest and sometimes I wonder if getting sick is your body's own way of telling you to slow down and take a break. It's like your body if saying, "Knock knock take care of me so I can take care of you. Can you please just stop for a minute? I promise the world will be here for you to conquer tomorrow." Let's be real, who couldn't use a little down time once in a while? We live in a world that is so go go go all the time, and I think people forget to just stop and actually enjoy this world we live in. So the next time you feel a case of the sniffles coming on or that pukey feeling or the aches, instead of complaining about how much you have to get done and how you can so not get sick right now, maybe welcome it as a day or two of rest, because all that work will still be there in a couple days. The only difference is, in a couple days you will be well rested and full of energy from all the sleeping you are getting done trying to heal yourself. To everyone who is feeling sick right now, I do hope you feel better soon! I know being sick is no fun, but don't let it get you down, instead welcome that much needed rest openly. Without it, you are just asking to stay sick longer anyway. So why fight it? Just embrace it!