Rest or get sick

Friends know me as an energetic person, who never can take any rest. Recently, I’ve been told to rest more. Not by my friends or family (sometimes, I’m a bad listener), but by my own body.

Four weeks ago, I got COVID-19. It took me a week to recover from it. The week that followed, I felt fine. I went back to doing the usual stuff. The week thereafter was a (fun) mess: I worked, traveled a lot and partied A LOT.

And that backfired. The symptons I had during COVID-19 were back. And they haven’t disappeared yet.

I’m slowly seeing some progress, but I have to be patient. I also don’t have to force myself into doing too much. I learned that on August 9, my birthday, when I went to a soccer match, biked home 20 kilometres, and slept for only 4 hours.

The day after, my coughs were back and I had a fever. I felt shittier than ever.

Taking some rest (i.e. 12 hours of sleep) helped. I feel slightly better, my body temperature is a bit lower, and I don’t need to cough that much.

I want this to be over, and I know it will. But I know that I have to give myself the rest I need, too.

Rest isn’t only physical.

Which brings me to another point: you shouldn’t only give your body rest, but you should give your mind, emotions, your creative brain some rest too. In fact, there are 7 types of rest.

And if you don’t rest at all, you’ll face the consequences. You might get burnt out, or fall into a creative rut. You might find it more difficult to process your emotions.

Or you might get a physical burnout. Let’s call it a physical burnout. Because maybe that’s the only way to tell myself to sit still sometimes.