And I'm Back!

Just returned back to Boulder from an incredible road trip through the Pacific Northwest. I was able to spend the first three days in Seattle with my boyfriend and then my parents who were en route to a medical conference in Vancouver met me and we explored the Oregon and Washington states for a week. Despite the rain, I recommend it. However, the rain is what makes the landscape so lush and beautiful, so I guess we have to pick and choose our battles here. Which brings me to this post...

I came down with a pretty nasty infection halfway through the time with my parents and was confronted with a pretty surprising and severe alert from my body that things were not right. On one night, I was kept awake through to the next morning by chattering teeth and chills that were unshakable. I was unnerved by this, and trying to get out of bed was almost impossible due to this excruciating pain in my back. I got up, and immediately started sweating all over...

My dad started doing compressions on my back to test tenderness, and with a yelp from me he called in a round of antibiotics...kidney infection. I had pretty much confirmed that...

For the next few days, I was preoccupied. I was scared that my body could within such a short period of time almost become an enemy of sorts, it was fighting me and demanding an attention that I don't usually give it. I was uneasy over the prospect of not being in pristine health and realized that I take all of that for granted every day.

I never even think about the fact that every morning I wake up and am bounding out of bed, ready to see the world and the people in it, learn new things, and never consider my health standing in my way. Until that last few days. And what it really did was make me understanding my own vulnerability as a human. All of a sudden I'm not invincible.

So this "wake up call" of sorts has made me realize that my body is my shrine, and that I need to really nurture and take care of it. I am seeing that in the past I haven't always been as attentive to my own needs and therefore I see benefit in this whole experience. Not only am I understanding the importance of adhering to my own needs, but realizing the value in accepting nourishment from those around me.