6 lessons I learnt from bed rest

I have a chronic illness known as ME. And when it flares up, I have to rest. I don’t have a choice in the matter. I'm writing this on my phone's note section after 3 days of being stuck in bed, which came after 4 days of resting at home, and I don't know how much longer it'll last. Being stuck in bed, with your body being so weak that simple tasks like going to the toilet is a struggle, is frustrating. But here are some things I've realised.

1. It's okay to take time out.

In today's day and age everyone is so busy rushing around trying to get everything done. But it's okay to rest. To take a breather. To allow our bodies to stop for a minute. Our bodies are fragile, and they need it - whether or not we have a chronic illness.

2. Resting is not doing nothing.

Sometimes, when forced to stay in bed and rest and you start binge watching television, you feel guilty or lazy, even when you literally have no choice in the matter because your body is too weak to do anything else. But there is no reason to feel guilty for resting when you need to. Because your body, through resting, is recovering. It is restoring itself. And if you look at this way, rest becomes a more beautiful thing – healing. And allowing your body to take time to heal itself is not doing nothing.

3. It's okay to put yourself first.

Often, we're so busy trying to please or do stuff for others that we forget to look after ourselves. But we are important. It's not selfish to take care of yourself. You don't need to feel guilty if you need a break or you need to take time off. You're not going to be able to do anything for anyone if you completely burn out.

4. You don't need to achieve everything.

When I'm stuck in bed with a weak and aching body, my aim is to survive the day. To get from morning to evening. On Wednesday I watched 3 musicals in a single day. On Thursday I binge watched some of my favourite television programmes. I just needed to pass the time from when I woke up until the evening when I would go back to sleep. Sometimes it won't even be watching TV, the day might just consist of naps and listening to music. But what I've learnt from this is that it's okay to take a break from the big goals we want to achieve in life and just get by. We don't need to be the best or the most successful in our field all the time (or even any of the time for that matter). You're allowed to just survive.

5. You don't have to live for other people.

What I mean by this is that we shouldn't be seeking other people's opinions to validate how we live. At the end of the day, what other people think of us doesn't matter - especially if you are doing the best that you can. Social media tells us the opposite of this - it tells us we need to validate ourselves with followers and likes and shares. But it's superficial and untrue and at the end of the day, your opinion of yourself is more important than anyone else's opinion of you.

6. Any situation can be used for good.

This period of bed rest was frustrating, and throughout it, I wanted to get back to doing more than watch musicals and scroll through Facebook or Twitter. But out of this situation has come this article and the realisations in it. This is the most productive thing I've done since I've been stuck in bed, and the only thing I've done today other than rest. But, nonetheless, it is still something positive :)