Back at the docs, I gave enough blood to resuscitate a small child for numerous tests and they told me check back with results. In the meantime I had to struggle with extreme fatigue, fever, migraines, confusion, and general frustration. After a week, the results came back Rocky Mt. Spotted Fever, which was actually good news because it is treatable. RMSF is the last step before declaring West-Nile Virus, which was good because at least with this they some meds that address it better than West-Nile. The only time I’ve been outside while recovering was the mow and weed the lawn and don’t remember being bitten by a tick. Oh, well.
The hardest things about recovery weren’t the physical pain, headaches, or the loss of strength (thought they all sucked). The first hard part of recovery is that it takes an admission of mortality whether you want to admit it or not. Whether you take an ‘I’m invincible’ approach or just ‘stuck in the routine of life.’ Either way we all get caught up round and round thinking our bodies will hold up and what could happen then bam!
I’m a constantly on the move person and here’s my body and Mother Nature telling me to slow down in more ways than one. What now? Rebuild my strength and get back on track or should I say get lost again in the hustle? Being forced to look from the inside out sucked, but it is also exactly what I needed to see the holes and cracks in the bubble around my soul that desperately needing popping. When the fuzziness slowly subsided I began to meditate on the dissatisfaction that has been covered up by busyness. It is so easy to cover up – to smooth over, to tell yourself that you just need to get more lost in the routine, nothing is wrong here, ignore the man behind the curtain, get more distracted, get bogged down in the details – and miss out on something so much more.
Yes, recovery sucks!! For me, the worst part is not the choices that flood my vision. The worst part to me is the decision of what to do next. The choice! You could do nothing, but inaction is a choice as well. So choose! For right or wrong, I prayed, contemplated, then decided. “God, if this is the direction you’re leading me then let’s go. If it isn’t then drop me a sign, open a door and I’ll go there as well.”
The final part is the first step. For some of my friends this is the hardest point. For me, I’ve always been someone who ways a billion options. I’ll look at it upside down, sideways, inside, outside, and while running around it, but once the decision is made action comes quickly. Pick you catchphrase and run with it. Let it be. Do it! Grab the bull by the horns. Be proactive. Discover thyself. I say this not to be trite, or too cheesy peppy, but to say to all my friends in recovery (physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, additional, whatever) don’t let the process stop you from becoming more. Let it be a time where you recapture what it means to be you – not the masked covered, saturated, promotional self but the amazingly gifted and graced person that God recognizes in us each and every day Jesus chases after us to show us the image that is there in our midst.
Peace and biscuits,
Revslick