Since May 15th, I have not been feeling well. I have been mostly in bed, pausing all other activities except cooking, eating, and caring for my mother. I have been resting and sleeping several hours both day and night. In recent days, I have struggled to sleep properly at night, despite retiring to bed around 12:30 AM, managing to catch sleep only after 3 or 3:30 AM. Consequently, during the day, I took extended rest from 11:00 AM to 2:30 PM, which further disrupted my nighttime sleep. I found it challenging to break this cycle.
On the 14th, I intentionally reduced my rest at night and went to bed very early by 11:30 PM, but I could not break the pattern. On the 15th, I developed severe back pain, eye pain, headache, neck pain, and constipation. I did not tell my mother that I was unwell, but she immediately sensed it from the way I walked and asked about my health. I gave her my usual response, mentioning both back pain and constipation. Knowing she also experiences these issues, I assured her I was taking care of myself with a hot pad and pain balm. However, I developed a slight fever during the night, which caused me panic.
I debated whether to alert health authorities, concerned that testing could lead to quarantine, leaving no one to care for my mother. If she were taken along, how would she manage there? Despite not showing any COVID-19 symptoms, I decided to wait until morning to decide. That night, I again struggled to sleep and took a fever tablet.
Thankfully, by the next morning, the fever had subsided, but I continued to experience severe back pain, headache, eye pain, and constipation. These symptoms often accompany my bouts of constipation, so I wasn’t overly concerned. Over the next two days, I halted all other activities and somehow managed to cook and care for my mother while taking adequate rest.
Finally, on the morning of the 17th, I began to feel some relief. Still lying in bed after giving coffee to my mother and having my tea, unable to sleep, I started to pray to the Lord. The first lines of this song came to me as part of my prayer. Driven by inspiration, I couldn’t resist; I got up from bed, took paper and pencil, and wrote this song [BT Song 1199].
The valuable lesson I learned is this: do not push your body beyond its limits. If you do, it has its own ways of correcting you. It may allow sickness to enforce a lockdown and compel you to rest until it completes its restoration. If you do not cooperate, it may prolong the lockdown until it restores its system to normalcy. The mind may resist, but the body has its inner mechanisms to enforce cooperation. I experienced this firsthand and resolved to slow down, avoiding overwork, excessive reading, and writing. I had already reduced my cross-stitch hobby, and due to the pandemic, there isn’t much news to watch on TV. Through this three-day “lockdown” in my life, God taught me a valuable lesson once again.
Mathigiri 17-5-2020
Revised on 8-7-2024
Gurukulam
Since May 15th, I have not been feeling well. I have been mostly in bed, pausing all other activities except cooking, eating, and caring for my mother. I have been resting and sleeping several hours both day and night. In recent days, I have struggled to sleep properly at night, despite retiring to bed around 12:30 AM, managing to catch sleep only after 3 or 3:30 AM. Consequently, during the day, I took extended rest from 11:00 AM to 2:30 PM, which further disrupted my nighttime sleep. I found it challenging to break this cycle.
On the 14th, I intentionally reduced my rest at night and went to bed very early by 11:30 PM, but I could not break the pattern. On the 15th, I developed severe back pain, eye pain, headache, neck pain, and constipation. I did not tell my mother that I was unwell, but she immediately sensed it from the way I walked and asked about my health. I gave her my usual response, mentioning both back pain and constipation. Knowing she also experiences these issues, I assured her I was taking care of myself with a hot pad and pain balm. However, I developed a slight fever during the night, which caused me panic.
I debated whether to alert health authorities, concerned that testing could lead to quarantine, leaving no one to care for my mother. If she were taken along, how would she manage there? Despite not showing any COVID-19 symptoms, I decided to wait until morning to decide. That night, I again struggled to sleep and took a fever tablet.
Thankfully, by the next morning, the fever had subsided, but I continued to experience severe back pain, headache, eye pain, and constipation. These symptoms often accompany my bouts of constipation, so I wasn’t overly concerned. Over the next two days, I halted all other activities and somehow managed to cook and care for my mother while taking adequate rest.
Finally, on the morning of the 17th, I began to feel some relief. Still lying in bed after giving coffee to my mother and having my tea, unable to sleep, I started to pray to the Lord. The first lines of this song came to me as part of my prayer. Driven by inspiration, I couldn’t resist; I got up from bed, took paper and pencil, and wrote this song.
The valuable lesson I learned is this: do not push your body beyond its limits. If you do, it has its own ways of correcting you. It may allow sickness to enforce a lockdown and compel you to rest until it completes its restoration. If you do not cooperate, it may prolong the lockdown until it restores its system to normalcy. The mind may resist, but the body has its inner mechanisms to enforce cooperation. I experienced this firsthand and resolved to slow down, avoiding overwork, excessive reading, and writing. I had already reduced my cross-stitch hobby, and due to the pandemic, there isn’t much news to watch on TV. Through this three-day “lockdown” in my life, God taught me a valuable lesson once again.
Mathigiri 17-5-2020
Revised on 8-7-2024
Gurukulam
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