Rest Days
Incase you didn't know, I am terrible at resting. Like really and truly. I love to just go and do things. I strongly dislike, actually, even hate resting.
There are days when I do, maybe I'll sleep in later than usual because I don't have to be at work before the sun. There are times when I'll decide to not go out and see friends to just watch Netflix and chill. There are times when I'll grab a book and go outside to lay in the sun or even enjoy the nice weather at the pool.
But, I've never really understood how to rest. And I think I need to.
If I'm being honest, since being back from Europe, I haven't stopped moving. It's been a whirlwind of applying for jobs, working, working some more, seeing friends, seeing family, going on interviews, celebrating birthdays, celebrating new jobs, trying new places, and overall, just filling my time with moments that I hope and pray I remember until my last day.
That started to shift ever so slightly in mid-May.
A few years ago, while I was on the World Race, I fell off a bus in the wee hours of the morning in Botswana and broke my ankle. Two years ago, I sprained my ankle and the tendons around it and the doctor mentioned that there's a chance this could become a reoccuring injury. So when I noticed my ankle was tight and sore as I was working out, I figured, It'll be ok, I'll just modify my workouts. Not land as hard on my ankle when I do burpees, try to stay on my toes, stretch more. I'll be fine.
Until I wasn't.
Sunday morning rolled around and I could barely walk as I was getting ready for work. By the end of my shift I was hobbling out to my car. I even had to call my parents to come help me inside.
Turns out, I had a stress fracture. Enter needing to rest.
As I was sitting in the doctor's office, both the nurse and the doctor said to me, "You don't rest well do you?" and as I laughed and nodded in response, they said, "Gwen, you really need to rest. You don't want to hurt your ankle more do you? I know it will be hard, but just try to stay off of your ankle as much as you can. Try to rest it ok?"
While my parents and friends would say I didn't rest it, I really thought I did...Ok, you got me, I know I didn't rest it as much as I should have. It's called rest and I just don't do it well.
When I went back for my follow up, it still hadn't healed all the way and I was still having more pain that I should. So the doctor recommended we get more imaging done to see what is really going on. While that was definitely not the result I was hoping for, I figured Well Papa, at least this will hopefully show us what's going on in there and maybe make sure it won't happen again!
I kept working, I kept 'resting', I kept living my life. It didn't seem like there was any real reason to stop. Yes, I was working over 60 hour weeks. Yes, I was planning a surprise party for my friend. Yes, I was tired. But it didn't seem that out of the ordinary.
Until I went to the chiropractor one afternoon. I've been seeing my chiropractor since I was 16, so needless to say, he knows when something isn't right with my body. He noticed that my lymphnodes were extremely swollen all around my neck and the base of my head. He suggested I go get it checked out incase it was strep or something even though I mentioned I felt fine, just a little tired.
Turns out, it wasn't strep. It was mono.
When you get mono, you're basically supposed to stop living for a few weeks. You're supposed to sleep, rest, hydrate, do nothing essentially; just let your body recover.
So here I am, waving the white flag.
I'll learn how to rest.
If you have any suggestions, I would absolutely LOVE to hear them! I'm a real kook at resting.
PS: A great book to read while you're resting in the summer sun is Wandering 20's: A Journey of Love, Vulnerability and Dreams. You can get it on Amazon now!
