Listen To Me!
Many years ago, there was a video going around (I’ll link it here) where a 3-year-old boy was telling Linda to listen to him. He is emphatic, “Linda, listen to me. Linda, you are not listening to me. Linda, Linda, Linda.” It’s cute (and maybe a bit bordering on disrespectful, but this blog isn’t about parenting). He was persistently working to get her attention (and his way). I remember as a child, we would be in a large crowd, and I would call out for my mom, and she didn’t hear me. It wasn’t until after I would call her by name that she would respond. (Maybe it was because there were so many other “moms” around). I eventually learned that if I really needed her attention, I would call her by her first name. That strategy worked. Now that I am a parent, I get it. It is easy to get lost in a task that I simply do not hear/am not paying attention to what is happening around me. (this is not always the case, my mom antennae still functions as needed).
I imagine for educators or people who work in high frequency fields this skill of tuning noise out around you, is highly developed. We can ignore the chatter of 30+ students while focusing on the one in front of us. We can attend to whatever task is at hand and miss the announcement over the PA. Or perhaps we are so lost in thought, running through the to do list that we don’t hear what the person next to us is saying. It can be difficult to take in all the stimuli around us. It seems our body knows how to deflect to protect us. There is only so much we can process at one time.
As is typical, the fall was a busy conference season, and I was on the road for 3 weeks. I was focused on and committed to pacing myself and prioritizing my own wellness. I feel pretty good about the strategies I put in place. However, during my last professional development trip I started to feel sick. I knew my body was worn down. I had a 6-hour workshop as my final travel day. I loaded up on medicine, herbal tea, lots of tissues, and hand sanitizer. I kept my distance and didn’t touch anyone (although the majority of the people in that room were coughing/sick too). I managed my way through and in fact had a blast with the 85-ish educators I worked with that day. The 4-hour drive home was challenging! I went straight to bed as soon as I got home. The next morning, I woke up with PINK EYE! That was it for me. I waved the white flag and surrendered. I took a sick day, saw the doctor, and left with FOUR prescriptions. My body went on strike. That is when it hit me (again?) that our bodies/our needs will not be ignored forever. They will eventually make their presence known and force you to respond. “Lauren, listen to me. Lauren, you are not listening to me. Lauren, Lauren, Lauren.”
It felt good to stop and rest. As I laid on the couch, I thought about how hard it is to do that…stop and rest. Why should it take our body breaking down before we listen? In my defense, I did think I was doing a good job of pacing myself/my time and energy over the previous weeks but upon reflection I realized several ways I could have done a better job of saying “no” more. I also recognized that I’m much kinder to other people when they are under the weather or overworked than I am to myself. I know I’ve talked about that recently, the need to love ourselves the way we love others. I would also like to note that regardless of how careful we are in prioritizing our wellness, we sometimes just get sick.
The good news is that because I had put into practice some pre-emptive self-care strategies, I was able to bounce back more quickly (the 4 prescriptions helped too) unlike others I know who’ve experienced the same illness and have had it drag on for weeks. I started to listen to my body better. I would think, “I should go work out or at least take a walk while the weather is nice.” But my body said, “no you are too weak still, just continue to rest.” And so, I did. I rested and worked through the momentary guilt and decided to feel proud of my ability to say no and do what is best for me. (I’ll have other times to walk and did once I felt better). My colleague recently said, “sometimes you can get further by walking instead of burned out running”. Just like the rabbit and the tortoise. So, my friends as we head into the holiday season, we are given a natural opportunity to take a break. Get some rest. I know it’s easy to fill our days with festivities, family, friends, and fun. But chances are you too need to stop and rest? It is ok to do that. It's essential for your well-being. Listen to me when I say listen to yourself. Listen. Listen. Listen.