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.