Day 288 – Smarter, But a Day Too Late

Today was a washout and it was my own darn fault. I should know better, but I wasn't thinking and because of my cluelessness, I spent an entire warm, beautiful, sunny day sleeping in my bed. What a waste. I'm pretty sure I know what caused my crash, but I am surprised at how hard it hit me. Late yesterday afternoon, I was cleaning up the big front porch at the cabin in the woods and there was a good amount of pollen that had drifted onto the floor and the furniture. So I got out one of those floor cleaner thingies with the removable cleaning pad and slowly soaked up the yellow film. I was very proud of my progress, which I could see clearly with every swipe. I was careful not to touch the soiled pads because of my allergies. While I was doing the floor, my hubby was doing the furniture, using a damp rag so the pollen wouldn't float in the air.. I was good for about fifteen minutes then my throat got scratchy and I began to sneeze. I went inside and took a non-drowsy allergy med and finished up the job.

Through dinner I could feel my throat getting more and more raw and I was aggravated that I wasn't smart enough to stay off the porch and and away from the pollen. I kept feeling worse and worse and I could tell it was going to be a long night. I learned a while back that pollen gets on everything so I washed down the dog before he came in the house and after we changed out of our outside clothes, I made my hubby towel off his hair and I did the same before climbing into bed for the night. I guess what we did wasn't enough because before long I was in full-blown allergy mode sneezing, blowing my nose and dealing with a horror of a sore throat. I was up a good part of the night just drowning and blowing and cursing myself for being so dumb.

Self-acceptance is one thing – but acknowledging a really, really bad decision is part of life, too. I have learned, sometimes the hard way, that anything I do that puts stress on my body, just hammers me into a crash. You wouldn't think that a bout of allergies would have anything to do with fibro and fatigue, but it is all connected. One thing doesn't happen in isolation of another. I have got to be diligent in everything I do if I am going to feel at my best. Sleep matters, what I eat matters, my activity matters and unless each of my systems is working in peak order – that matters, too. I have had to learn this lesson many times over, because I don't expect to be laid low by a particular choice I've made. But over time I have created a mental list of do's and don't's that I adhere to, so as not to cause extra problems. Dealing with my allergies in a sensible way just went on my list – but a day too late. Oops.