My friends continue to tell me that they feel guilty for taking time off when they’re sick.
They run fevers. They get stomach bugs. Some of them catch things that are much, much worse. Some of these things are contagious. Some of these things are not.
They feel guilt about not working through the pain.
I’m disappointed in a society that encourages us to place all of our worth on what we produce and shames us when we have to heal from our near-constant production.
I work from home. I have injured my shoulder and I am dealing with a wicked sinusitis flare up. Yesterday, the pain in my head and shoulder was too great to bear to continue to work through. So, I took the afternoon off. I rested my body. I rested my brain. I let myself heal.
My boyfriend and I own our company. While I don’t have a boss to call in to, I DO have clients, deadlines, and accountability to my schedule and my word, like a job wherein I would have a “boss.” I looked at my man yesterday and said, “I’m in pain and I’m not productive because of it. I’m going to bed for a few hours, maybe even for the rest of the day.” He said, “Okay, thanks for the heads up, I love you, get some rest. I’ll check on you later.” I realize that this puts me in a position of privilege, because not everyone gets that opportunity, and I still stand by what I have said: If you’re sick or injured, take the day off. You’ll be better the next day for having done so.
You cannot pour from an empty cup, my good bitch. If you have to take a day off to heal from an illness or injury, that’s literally all it means-- you have to take a day off to heal.
Even if you’re not going to get someone else sick by being at work, you deserve time to allow yourself to heal. You will heal faster and be able to return to the labor force faster if you do this. If you stop drowning yourself in guilt about taking time off to heal, your healing will happen even faster.
You are not your labor. You are not what you produce. You are also not your illness or your injury. You deserve healing, compassion, and respect.
If anyone tries to tell you otherwise, send ‘em my way. I just wanna talk.
germansingergirl
theartofmadeline
jacobvanloon
turnnoffyourmind
areudirty
2087
romaincrisis
