#navbar-iframe {display: none !important;}

Sunday, January 4, 2015

The Good Side of the Flu

Can the flu be a good thing?

I had the flu for like six days. I keep telling people I was like the walking dead because that feels most accurate to my situation. I woke up, wandered to the couch, sat/laid there all day, and then wandered back to bed. It was misery. 

But actually, if I'm being honest, it was time well spent. 

I watched so many movies. Like a lot of movies, like a lot of really good movies. I watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy and was hyped up for days on the courage of Frodo, the friendship of Sam, the power of good over evil. I quoted all those wise Gandalf responses as Frodo grieves the cards he's been dealt - "I wish this had not happened in my time." "So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." I talked to whoever would listen to me (my mom) - "this is such a big deal that the elves, dwarves, and men are all fighting on the same side, against evil. Do you even know!? This is so huge." oh bless it, everyone loves a movie talker.

Then I read the book Unbroken and my little flu-ridden heart swelled with the power of the human spirit. It is one of the most incredible stories and I flew through the pages (if you have read the book, can we please talk about the whole-fighting-off-sharks-while-floating-on-a-raft scene? I can't even. I had so many physical and emotion reactions to that part. Huge shoutout to my friend Matt, who let me retell that scene in the atrium this morning at church. You're the real MVP). Unbroken reminded me that there are people who have lived and who are currently living who are so extremely brave. They have this incredible spirit within them that won't back down, who fight for things and for people, and who seem to withstand all the unbearable trials because they will not stand to perish. And then toss in faith and hope and forgiveness and redemption and Unbroken is all the things.

So I'd say this flu break revived my love of stories, the real and the fantasy. This human desire we innately have to connect with story, it's incredible. I could literally write so many more blog posts at this point at where my mind is wandering, how story is one of the tools that helps me choose faith over fear this year. 

The flu allowed me to STOP. And then to marvel. 
I can't wait to keep going. 
  

No comments:

Post a Comment