What I learned from having the flu

Hard to believe anyone can find a silver-lining in something as awful as having the flu, but as I’m coming out of my flu-induced fog, I’ve developed a new perspective on a few things. And because I’ve also lost a week of my life to this nasty bug, I’ll keep this post brief since I’m now really behind on work, bills, cleaning, etc!

So, what did I learn by having the flu?

1. When you start to feel symptoms of sickness, get your ducks in a row FAST.

When the flu hits you – there is no warning! Not much of one anyway. I developed a slight cough in the afternoon. No big deal, right? The next morning it was full on FLU. Body aches, fever, headache, sore throat, fatigue. Had I been quicker to react, I might have been able to reschedule my week without putting anyone else out. Instead, I was calling in favors left and right for things like babysitting, client meetings, work assignments, etc. Not to mention, while I was in the worst of it, I had to forecast my schedule out because of tasks I’d already been procrastinating on! Word to the wise: if you’ve been putting off a task, you’ll just be that much more behind when you finally recover… bleh!

2. Always have a backup plan.

This kind of goes along with #1, but it’s always good to have backup plans in mind for really important things, even if you don’t feel sick at all. Just have it in the back of your head for the really important stuff. In my case, I was able to reschedule meetings, find a babysitter (thank you mother-in-law!), and delay project deadlines. But what I couldn’t change was a photoshoot I had for one of my clients. The photographer was booked and the props/product were already shipped in. This photoshoot HAD to happen. I didn’t have a backup plan – but I do have an amazing employee who stepped up last minute (like literally, an hour before the shoot, I texted her to get out of bed and take my place), and she rocked the shoot. I got lucky, but not everyone might have been so fortunate!

3. “This too shall pass” 

Sometimes you just have to suck it up. Over the course of several miserable days, my husband and I reminded ourselves, ‘This will pass. This will pass”. (He also had the flu).

4. True Partnership

I always knew my husband was my ‘partner’. We’ve considered ourselves a team since day 1, but I think the true meaning of ‘partners’ really hit home for us when the weekend came and we couldn’t get a sitter for our daughter. Dan and I were still sick as dogs, but we were through the worst of it. We both had to find strength to take turns being ‘the strong one’ for our daughter. We would just look at each other to silently determine who was doing worse, then one of us would step up.

I kept thinking back to days without a child, when we could just sleep for hours with no responsibilities. I can’t believe I EVER thought life was hard back in those days. 😉 I also thought about what life must be like for a single parent, I can’t even imagine. (Seriously, props to ANYONE who can do that!).