Take a Break - Please!
The article you are about to read is one that I originally wrote in July 2021.
I hope you can forgive me for the familiar content if you have read it before, and if not – I welcome you first time reader.
Reposting my own content is part of a reclamation process I am going through to reclaim my agency, my property, and my power as a proud Queer and Racialized Social Worker, Therapist, and Human Being.
- Lewis
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This past winter I got two concussions. . . essentially back-to-back thanks to the negligence of a homeowner (myself – oops!) who didn’t clear their driveway properly.
I never blacked out, had mild light sensitivity and confusion on the days that I fell, stayed away from computers for a few days and thought “hey, I’m good!”.
So, when my doctor suggested I take some time off of work for recovery I laughed saying not a chance – I don’t have time.
If I could go back to February and tell past me what current me knows, I probably would have saved myself a very difficult past 6 months.
Post-concussion symptoms came in like a force to be reckoned with. Suddenly I was seeing a Chiropractor twice a week, trying to cope with daily migraines and muscle pain, and STILL pushing on refusing to take a break.
Confusion, memory issues, and lack of concentration suddenly reared their heads, which really shook my confidence. Think I took a break? Of course not, I pushed on.
Just as the daily migraines slowed down, I experienced a sudden increase in jaw pain to the worst pain I have experienced in my life and discovered I had a probable TMJ disorder. With chiropractic reduced to once bi-weekly, I added in a Physiotherapist twice weekly, and a bi-weekly visit to the Massage Therapist.
Somehow, I still didn’t take the hint – no break for me even as I hit wall after wall.
While the packaging has been most unfortunate (not to mention how loud and clear as it was the whole time) the time came for me to listen to what my body and every medical professional was telling me, to take a break.
Don’t pull a me; if and when you need it please – for the love of everything that is good in the world – take a break.
It really is as simple as that. Take a break. Everything will still be there when you get back. Putting your body and mind through stress when they already aren’t operating at an optimal level does no good.
Even though I talk about it every day, learning to trust and listen to my body cues has been quite the arduous process. Only I could make the decision to stop disrespecting my body and mind by ignoring what they were asking of me.
Does taking a break heal all wounds? No.
What it does do is allow me to start engaging in a daily check-in process, recommitting myself to self-care, and acknowledging and giving my body and mind what they are screaming out for.
While the recovery process is still ongoing, I have had to recognize that it can be long and that I did not do myself any favours by pushing the limits of what I was capable.
I still struggle to slow down, I’m a work in progress! I’m no good to my family, friends, colleagues, and clients if I refuse to put myself first.
These concussions and the subsequent months have really reminded me to heed my own advice –
You can’t do anything effectively for others that you won’t also do for yourself.