The Well-ish Principle

Opposites Attract
There is nothing like antithesis to make you appreciate a thing.  The opposite of the thing.  Plan B.  The top of the Ferris Wheel.

For example:

• Darkness makes you appreciate the light.
• Light makes you appreciate the darkening of the sky.
• Two or three days without a shower makes you really feel clean when you finally get one.
• Kale makes you appreciate chocolate.

Wait--What am I saying?  MOST things make you appreciate chocolate!

The point is, last week I had the flu.  The kind of not-feeling-well that keeps you in bed.  Too miserable even for trash TV or reading.  Just enough energy to sleep, wake and be miserable, then sleep some more.

Yep.  In the middle of that, it just sucks.  However, at the worst deepest, darkest belly of the whale moment, I try to remember the Well-ish principle.

So What Is the Well-ish Principle?
You know that feeling of superpower you start to get as the sickness starts to fade?  Suddenly, you can hold your head up on your own again and you think to yourself--hey--I could move mountains.  Or, at least, I finally feel up to watching the last three seasons of Dexter.

And each moment--each hour--each day--as your body puts itself back together, that sense of appreciation for actually being well builds.  You realize, damn--being healthy feels so good, y'all.

Except.

Except, I'm not exactly the poster girl for healthy.  I've got my omnipresent chronic illness. That yoke of pain and other symptoms that make me sound like the laundry list of possible side effects from the latest TV prescription medication ad.

In other words, let's just say my norm is not the top of the bell curve.

But that's okay.  Because when I'm riding that wave from sickness back into well, I'm feeling the love, y'all.  The love of being not-sick.  Of being well, back to my definition of well; well-ish.

And it's a beautiful place.

Everything's Relative
We are all on the spectrum.  No, not that spectrum--the wellness spectrum.  We each have our own point of wellness--our baseline state.  Is it better or worse than someone else's?  Of course it is.  And that's okay.  Because in this case, it really is all about you.

Health and wellness are not a competitive sport.  And you don't have to play a competitive sport to be healthy.  Keep your eye on your baseline.  Set your sights on improving that as you can--and there are soooo many ways to do that.

But also remember the well-ish principle.  On those hard days--those sick days.  They do end.  You do get better.*  And as you get better, the rush is there.  The rush as you realize how good it feels to be getting well again--back to your well--what ever that is.

-meg

*Sometimes you don't.  Sometimes people don't get better.  Sometimes there is no cure.  Sometimes people die.  I know.  And still, there are ways that the well-ish principle can help them get back to the upside--to be as comfortable and "well" as is possible for them--until the end.


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