Health Is Life(And Wealth)

Photo Credit: Author's

"It is not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It's necessary." - Mandy Hale

Some days ago, on Thursday to be exact, I fell ill. I refused to accept that I was ill.*rolls eyes* I just went on with my plans for the day like one superhero. By Friday morning though, I had to pause as I could not hide the symptoms anymore. You can only ignore an illness for some time, it won't magically disappear(as science shows).

Left to me, I would have gone on with my plans for Friday as I had a job to go to, but my mum did not listen. We fought about it, with me wanting to go to work and begin taking medications during the weekend, and her wanting me to stay home, rest, and take care of myself. Long story short, we both compromised. I ended up going to work, after I had begun taking medications and resting a little.

At the time I was trying to convince my mum about how I did not want to fail my client by calling in sick 'just because of a simple illness', that sensible part of me was giving me a serious side eye and giving me reasons why I had to keep quiet and do what my mum said. But, for where?! Stubborn me?

I gave in though, long enough for the Nurse to check on me and prescribe medications for me. As soon as I had taken the medications and rested for a while, I ran off to work. Yes, I showed up at work. Yes, I executed my duties. But, was I at my best? No. I did not give it my all as I was trying to do my job to the best of my ability while hiding my illness from everyone.

Now, I know that there are some people like me(and worse than I am) out there who would choose to finish up with work before they begin taking care of themselves rather than stay in and call in sick. But, is that really necessary? Is your life not important or is the work worth more than your life?

Nature has a way of humbling us. No matter how much we want to be superhuman, we can only do so much when we are ill. All the work we do would mean nothing if we exert ourselves to the point of death. At that point, we would have ended up failing ourselves, our families, and every one who cares about us.

Though it did not get really bad, I have learnt not to ignore the needs of my body for the sake of some job. I got that job because of my client's confidence in my ability to perform. But while ill, that ability is diminished to some extent. Thankfully, the job went well. But, for my sake, the sake of my family and loved ones, I will do better at taking care of myself.


- The Lady

“O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.”

Psalms 95:1-2