Good morning!
I hope you and your family are well. Over the last month, we have had quite a lot of sickness in our house. Our daughter had a virus, then the youngest caught COVID, then the 16 year old had a virus with super high temperatures for days. Then last night the youngest woke with a temperature. And I know from chatting with other parents we are not on our own. There seems to be lots going around at the moment.
As I tried to get back to sleep last night after attending to the youngest I was feeling frustrated about the lack of continuity I have been able to get with both my sleep and my work. Working part-time and having more flexible work, I do the bulk of the primary caring which is the way I want things to run but there are still moments when I find this a little frustrating.
Right now I have some super exciting things going on for Adapt Drinks and ideas for some new things for PWK that I would love to throw myself into. But as I lie there struggling to go back to sleep, I changed my self-talk. Instead of focusing on being frustrated, I reminded myself that my goal has always been to have flexible work so I can meet the needs of the kids. And I accepted that post COVID lockdowns over the last couple of years it is very likely that we will have more sickness over the colder months and noted how lucky I am that it does not cause too much havoc with my work.
A few hours later after rising to my early alarm and making my way into the running track for the first time in months, I needed to change my self-talk again. This was my first attempt at some speedwork since my injury in early March. It was a short session and easy relative to where I was before I was injured but the first few reps in it felt hard. As the hard came I felt my body tense up and I realised I needed to embrace the hard and not fight it.
Over 10 weeks without workouts and you will lose a lot of fitness - that is the reality of coming back from an injury. I need to accept where I am and focus on doing a little bit more each week. Consistent, slow improvement each week and listening to my body are what I need to focus on now.
And as I jogged the cool down with friends back to the car, I could not have been happier. First workout done, a chance to catch up with my gorgeous running friends on a chilly but beautiful morning - what better start to the day could I have!
I have plenty of hard work to do over the next few months to return to where I was but after not being able to run at all for weeks, I am so grateful to be back out running again.
Where are you at? Do you have sickness at your house? Are you returning to exercise post injury? Let me know!
New posts from me to read
Some recent posts from me you might like to read:
National Reconciliation Week 2022 – Be Brave. Make Change. - what is it and how you can get involved. Includes a list of free online events you can join.
How to set yourself up for a less stressful week - Life is not always predictable but there is a lot about our weeks that we do know and can plan for.
What you need to add in to your life to reduce stress - Stress is not just the presence of challenging situations. It's also the absence of play, beauty, nature, laughter, socialisation, and fun.
Have a wonderful week!
Nic
Most of my friends are saying the same; kids netball games have been forfeited w half of the team sick. My girl gave me Covid for Mothers Day, which turned out to be a nice little break after the intial symptoms. I channeled Planning Queen energy and researched the election, took notes on TED ‘Morals Foundation Theory’ by Jonathan Haidt , watched the Ch 10 Indigenous series Stuff Everyone shd know about Aust (7x 7min vids). I explored the Histamine Intolerance- Covid connection. Did some online shopping & Netflix binging. It was a rude shock coming out of the spare room 🤣
I feel you! I know the frustration of not being able to live up to your own expectations because of taking care of the family and your own health problems.
I share this frustration, as right now I am dealing with my own struggles of a Ukrainian refugee. And in my situation, I put even more pressure on myself because I know that I am in a very privileged situation compared to many Ukrainians who are still in very dangerous or simply poor conditions. My child, my husband, and I are safe, this is the most important thing! So how can I complain?
Anyways, I remind myself that acceptance is the key. You need to accept whatever is, otherwise you're only making yourself and others around you miserable. I also remind myself that the current situation is teaching me an important lesson and I want to be a grateful learner.