Feeling battered and bruised

Today is day 9 of my quarantine, and I am feeling better, my cough was less aggressive overnight. I now feel battered and bruised, I feel breathless and my chest really hurts this morning. It is as if I have been kicked in the chest. I can take paracetamol for the pain and I can rest to allow my lungs to recover.

Like many people though being stuck inside and being prevented from contributing to society. And I am lucky next week I can go back to work, some people will not be able to leave their homes until the restrictions are lifted. Over the past week I have inserted a few tips that I use to help me get through my days. They mostly centre around being in the moment and viewing the world differently. Sometimes though you just can’t get passed the feeling you are experiencing whether that is frustration, anger, sadness or fear. I know it has been said before, but it is true, these are all normal emotions to experience. If they are normal then it is important to allow these emotions to happen, if we try to push them away or fight them they will just get worse. The wonderful Paul McGee (The SUMO Guy) calls it hippo time, a time to wollow in our self pity. Now the thing is with hippo time is that it really shouldn’t be a permanent place of residence. It is a time to recognise the emotion you are experiencing, understand why you are experiencing it, acknowledging it and then to make a plan for the rest of the day, that will be more helpful for you. That might be laying down at the top of the stairs looking for inspiration or starting a new project. Or like me writing it down and sorting out my life on a blog.

I wrote a blog about a month ago about it being OK not to be OK about not being OK. I know there is a lot of OKs. My point is most of us a brought up to stifle and hide our feelings. If that is you, then the message is that is OK. But and there is a big but, you still have to sort through your emotions. Having quiet hippo time will help. You might not be an emotional soul like myself, so you don’t have to lay face down on your bed. Do what brings you comfort, cleaning the bathroom, digging the garden, playing music. Anything that takes you away that is useful that will let you work out your emotions. What is important is that you recognise and understand your emotions and can create the space in your mind that it deserves, so you can get back to being the wonderful you again. And in the mean time you have been productive.

We can be battered and bruised in different ways. Whether that be physical or emotional they both serve a purpose, it is important to acknowledge both if you are going to manage them effectively.

Keep safe, and stay inside, it will pass