My life lessons from my very unpleasant bout with the flu.

I’m now eating my first bite of food in 48 hours.  It’s not been pleasant here.  But, in my continuing quest to see the good in the not-so-good, I’ve learned a few life lessons over these last two days:

1. I literally spent 6 hours on the floor of our bathroom when it first started.  In and out of consciousness, exhaustion and visiting what I wish had been a clean porcelain bowl.  But, oh my friends who have suffered through chemotherapy, my heart breaks thinking about you. I want you to know how sorry I am that I didn’t fully understand it all. I knew that my flu would eventually go away. But you had to endure it every two weeks – for months. You knew it was coming and couldn’t stop it.  I am going to pray every day that we find a better way to treat C or we get rid of it all together. I’m thankful to have a teeny tiny reminder of your experiences. I will be more compassionate than I ever have been before.
2. My boys were late for school these last two days. Why? Because I do too much s*** around here. It’s not their fault. And, to their defense, they were helping me too. I love my mom role. But college is around the corner and this was a good wake up call for us all. Lesson learned.
3. I need to keep my bathroom clean.
4. I need to teach them how to clean the bathroom.
5. I need to keep seven-up in the house at all times. (Thanks Dad for dropping it off for me.)
6. I have beautiful trees in my backyard.  I rarely sit on the couch and do nothing (well, I did keep working a little bit 🙂 )But, I didn’t turn on the TV – not once. Instead, when I wasn’t running to the bathroom, I looked out the window and felt the sun on my face.  Warm and peaceful. I also listened to the last interview Maurice Sendak did with Terry Gross and I cried my eyes out. It reminded me that I am so lucky. So fortunate to be here. Sick or not. That my world — our world — is beautiful and complicated and loving and sad. And, that even though I felt like s***, I knew I could still look outside my window and see beauty and feel happy.

I hope you don’t catch the flu this season.  But I guess I’m glad I did.  It made me stop and reflect and gain a new perspective.

I also hope you have a chance to listen to this interview of the late Maurice Sendak.  It’s five minutes. But, it’s the most beautiful and tear jerking reminder of the beauty of life – no matter what you believe. I can’t say this enough – In the end, it’s really all about our life relationships and love for one another.   XOXO

http://www.openculture.com/2013/01/maurice_sendaks_emotional_last_interview_with_nprs_terry_gross_animated.html