Silver Linings To Being Sick

Late in 2024, when I reflected on the new year, I certainly didn’t anticipate being sick for most of the first month of 2025. Sometimes (or maybe often), life throws us things out of our control. As someone who likes to try to plan and organize, this can get a little uncomfortable and frustrating for me. In these situations, I like to try to look for any silver linings I can find.

As I start to get over the viruses and feel back to my normal self, some of the silver linings I have found

1. I was able to stay cozy at home during some extreme winter weather. We also didn’t have to worry about driving in this weather.
2. Since loved ones were sick as well, we got to spend some extra quality time together
3. My “51 Goals For Age 51” list, included doing a No-Spend Month. To be honest, I felt this was a challenge I might not be able to tackle. However, being sick for a month helped me easily reach that goal.
4. When I am sick, I find I do a lot more intuitive eating and listen to what my body needs. This included lots of simple, quick meals instead of the bigger meals I usually make.
5. Gratitude for how healthy I usually feel.
6. I talk a lot about wintering and how nature rests this time of year and that we should too. I often encourage others to take a break and permit themselves deep rest. However, I’m not always great at following my own advice. Being sick allowed me no choice. I rested. I relaxed. I hibernated.
7. We listened to lots of music and discovered some new artists.
8. Our dog is an elderbull. But, he seems to think he is a wild teenager. With us resting he had no choice but to rest too, which was probably good for his old bones.
9. I became quite good at making several nourishing soups.
10. More gratitude—can we ever really have enough gratitude for all our blessings? My sore muscles as I get back to my fitness routine make me thankful for the level of physical fitness, and my body’s capabilities which are my norm. I am thankful for the patience of the supportive women who take my classes as they waited for me to get better. I am thankful to finally be rid of the viruses that disrupted my January. And once again, I am thankful for how healthy I usually feel.

Sometimes in life, it’s hard to find those silver linings, but I have found over the years, it has been something I have practiced. Sometimes, it takes time, even years, to understand the reason a tough thing happened and the benefits that came with the challenge. Sometimes, there aren’t silver linings. But, with something minor in the big picture, I have found it benefits me to go on a silver lining scavenger hunt.