I recently found myself in the emergency ward with acute appendicitis, pining for my freedom!
My white blood cell counts are well over 20, normal is 4-8, my body was clearly fighting a big infection. My lower abdomen feels like a mason block, I’m sleep deprived, it’s Friday night, and the last place in the world I want to be is in the hospital.
I’m admitted, processed, and placed in my own private room, while the drugs do their work. I was later informed that this was an isolation room, meant for patients with particularly nasty or contagious conditions. Isolating it was…..
It’s another sleepless night and in the morning I’m awoken by my new nurse (they change every day, but they’re all awesome). She does her vitals check and leaves me to sit alone with my thoughts. There’s noise in the hall, but all I can hear is the rhythmic ticking of the large analogue clock directly in my line of sight. Just me and time, in a staring contest, and I was losing!
It was then that I made a conscious choice to turn this burden into a blessing. I sat quietly with myself, allowing my mind to wander. In this trance like state, I could feel files flying around in my head, from one side to the other, sorting, sorting, and sorting. That might sound like an exaggeration, but I assure you it felt exactly like that!
I learned quickly to embrace the long hours with myself, and in time to relish each passing moment. I monitored my thoughts, and noticed when they weren’t serving me. I interrupted them and inserted a different perspective. My mood changed and I ended up getting a lot of things “straight in my mind”.
It occurred to me that I was put here to learn this lesson. It was exactly what I needed.
I’m probably the only one who gets this, right? From this day forward I vow to make time regularly, for sitting with myself and sorting. I’m also going to be more aware of how I am thinking and feeling. I hope you take my lesson and do the same.
Clint Best is a business coach and the founder of Kaizen Business Development in Kelowna, BC and is a certified values blueprint partner. Clint has been guiding forward thinking business owners through change and growth since 2002.
