However, I've found the silver lining! Being sick has provided many great opportunities. Here are some of the opportunities I've had that I wouldn't otherwise have enjoyed if I hadn't have been SICK:
1) the opportunity to ask for help.
-I can't make life pause while I'm sick. I still have deadlines and responsibilities that have to be met. However, there's been help for me. I've seen some of the things I had to do this week get done (even better, I'd like to think) than if I had done them myself!
I also called my Grandma up asking for her notoriously awful "Tomato Tornado" recipe that requires nearly an iron stomach to handle! The next morning, sore throat was gone, leaving me with only the cold to tackle next. (I'll put the Tomato Tornado recipe at the bottom).
2) the opportunity to have the classic "sick day"
-If I'm gonna be sick, heck, why not go all out? Today I decided to really embrace my sickly condition and indulge in my romanticized profile of the classic sick person: chicken noodle soup, hot tea, socks, netflix, naps, reading and podcasts. At this rate, it's really not that bad!
3) opportunity to learn- input determines output.
-I realized that for my generation, many of us haven't realized that truly input determines output. I think that because of machines and technology things require less work to get quick results, so we find ourselves living lives of minimal effort. We don't need to plow a field to create a crop that will eventually put food on our plates, we can just go through a drive through to grab a quick lunch. To make a call, we don't have to stop by a phone booth and use an address book, we can just voice dial on our iPhones.
How does this apply to me being sick? I see myself as having 3 categories: spiritual, mental, physical. If one of these areas goes down, it effects me drastically. How do these areas go down? When I've neglected to invest (input) in them at all, or when I've put "junk" in them. This week, I've been physically down. It's effected me a lot. But I've traced it back to input. I see how my diet directly effects my health, so now I have the opportunity to tweak things a bit to better steward this body God's given me.
This see this concept apply to the other two areas as well. Spiritually, the time I spend with God effects the quality and depth of relationship I have with him. Mentally, the thoughts that go in determine the actions that go out. Gossip, negative self-talk, or discouraging thinking are all "junk" thinking that brings your mental health down. I'm learning to intentionally input times spent with God and the word to strengthen me spiritually, to input times to "renew" my mind with good content to strengthen me mentally, and to put balanced food into my body to strengthen me spiritually. This way I can love the Lord with "all my heart, soul, strength and mind." :)
Tomato Tornado
Fresh or stewed tomatoes
Cloves of garlic (as much as you can handle)
Cayanne pepper (as much as you can handle)
Blend and drink.