After last week’s Resilient Wednesday, I got several requests asking for accountability for my mistakes. My brother, Chuck, asked me to send him a list of my indiscretions, if I could keep it under ten pages.
An impossible task.
I can, however, share my latest error in judgment.
Almost three weeks ago, I had surgery to repair a hernia. While the surgery is routine and relatively straightforward, it does require general anesthetic and intubation. I had the procedure done laparoscopically and now have three incisions across my abdomen.
We received the standard orders to take it easy, not do anything strenuous, and to call the office if anything unusual happens.
Easy enough.
I planned to take 3 or 4 days off and then return to work, but that is not exactly how it worked out. When I came back to my desk, I found that I could only work for a couple of hours before I felt like I wanted to put my head down, much like I did as a kindergartener. I kept plunging ahead, however, trying to keep up with my schedule of activities I wanted to complete, but that was not to be. I gave in to my fatigue every afternoon and headed off to bed.
I didn’t have much of an appetite, either which didn’t help my energy, and, as you might guess, those afternoon naps affected my regular sleep meaning that I was up several nights until 3 AM.
What a mess!
While my physical healing progressed according to schedule, I became grumpy, irritable, and aggravating… and that is how I saw myself. Hopefully, I’ve not been too much of a jerk to others, but you can check with Sheila, who has been a good caretaker.
Now, if anyone else asked me how to recover from surgery, I would encourage them to give into the body’s need for healing and rest, or as one of my teachers, Cynthia Winton-Henry, says, “move at the speed of the body.”
So, I agree that I’ve not followed my own Resilience Advantage strategy of having “rest be part of the journey.” I started feeling more like myself just this past weekend, and I think I may also allow my “taking it easy” to go on for this week.
I’ll add this one to my list of errors. It’ll probably push me over 100 pages.
© Richard Citrin 2023
