Hospital really puts life in perspective.
A couple of months ago I was in hospital again – another day, another obstructed bowel… and yet, all I could think about was the fact that I could bitch and moan about being in hospital but I didn’t want to.
I don’t because I’m surrounded by people who are always in much worse situations: more pain, longer stays and more long term issues so it helps me to keep my problems in check.
In these moments, I do get aggravated with social media. The number of people complaining about minor inconveniences completely bypassing how lucky they are to even be alive, to walk, to be free! Being in hospital makes me a little intolerant and makes me want to shout from the rooftops to not take your life for granted, to not take your body for granted and not to take your freedom for granted. Enjoy the time you have on this planet! ?
So many of you messaged me last week asking how I still sounded so upbeat and happy in a hospital bed. You queried how I was still being active on social media and acting as if nothing happened, and my answer to that is perspective.
When I was lying on the hospital gurney for 7 hours alone, I kept snapchatting and adding to Instagram stories to keep me distracted and I focused on one thing: that I was farting. I’d been through this process before and I knew that passing gas meant it wasn’t as serious as before. It’s silly but it stopped me from escalating the issue in my head and centred me on the reality. If I hadn’t focus on that, I would have driven myself crazy with “what ifs” and started worrying that I would be stuck in there for 6 weeks like last time.
Even in a hospital bed, I was able to stay happy because I was surrounded by people who were worse off and more importantly, I had been through worse! As long as I could walk, and eat, there wasn’t much to complain about.
Whenever I am feeling really low, I remind myself of the worst days in hospital, because it gives me perspective. I urge you all to give it a try, when you are at a low point, think about something that you can be grateful for and give you perspective!
At the time, I refused to let all this unravel the life I worked really hard to build back up after the last bowel obstruction and now a few months down the line, I am so glad that I didn’t give up. I never let that hospital experience defeat me, unlike the previous times and I now get to benefit from the fact that I kept the faith and kept trudging forward.