Eclipse Epiphany: Re-Defining Taking Care of Yourself

Copyrighted by Lorna Tedder. Originally published in Third Degree of Truth.

I could barely get out of bed this morning. I felt like crap, and with a day ahead of me that required I at least pretend not to feel like crap.

At first, I thought it was lack of sleep. I’d had one of those elderly-parents-driving-me-nuts bouts of insomnia last night, so I  could hardly sit upright when the alarm went off. The only good thing was that in the dreams I had, they were all quite…interesting…and amazingly relaxing, but I suppose dreaming of eating watermelon  on a pontoon boat on a still creek with an entertaining  man will do that for me. No idea where that dream came from but, hmmm, juicy.

Still, that didn’t account for why I woke feeling like I had a hangover  combined  with a sinus headache  combined with cramps combined with the flu. Bleah. I called in to work, said I’d be there in a couple of hours, and went back to bed….for 4 more hours.

When I finally decided I had to get up no matter how bad I felt, I  realized that I really did have a sinus headache, a major earache, a neck  ache all the way into my shoulder. Yeah, allergy season again. But I had a big project to sign off on today and so I dragged myself to work, still feeling like crap.

I got into the office shortly before the partial lunar eclipse in Pisces  today. I’m a Pisces, the eclipse was in Pisces (a sign of healing and nurturing), and eclipses have a tendency to “speed up” things. This one was supposed to herald some endings for me, and that always makes me nervous. I didn’t start to feel better until after the eclipse.

By then, I’d taken a pain pill. I was feeling much better and—surprise—really  kicked  ass  today.  Maybe  because I was in no mood to be toyed with and I have a history  of  writing  take-no-prisoners  documentation  when someone  forces my hand, but it  worked out quite well and I was in a different frame of mind.

See, I’d made  a discovery.  Things  can’t  go  on this way. I have to take better care of myself.

But I have been taking better care of myself! I argued back (with myself).

And I  have.  I’ve  never  been  the  girly-girl  type  to spend my time pampering  myself when there’s so much other stuff I want to  do…or  must do. I’ve never done much  toward  letting  other  people  pamper  me  either (that’s got to stop!) or letting other people take care  of anything for me.

But I’ve been “taking better care of myself.”

Yes, I’ve been getting more exercise. Usually an hour a day. I like the results. I’ve actually gained back a couple of pounds,  but they’re  muscle.  For the most  part, I’m feeling really good.

Yes, I’ve been eating right, with occasional relapses to make sacrifices to honor the Mint Milano gods. But generally healthy eating.

Somehow, I’ve always defined “taking better care of myself” as getting regular exercise and eating right. Somehow, I forgot that it included getting some rest.


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