Bleary eyed, red nosed, bundled in my fuzzy pink robe and clutching a box of Kleenex, I shuffle into the kitchen to make myself a cup of Organic Throat Coat tea.  I’m told this will help to decrease inflammation in my lungs and bronchial tubes as well as coat my sore throat in the process.  I’m willing to try anything natural that carries with it the possibility of making me feel a little less like I’m dying.

I hate head colds.  Even more, I hate chest colds.  But the absolute worst is a marriage of the two!  I’m awake barely long enough to have a tasteless bite of breakfast and drink the tea before shuffling back to bed.  I drift off for a bit before sleep is cut short by fits and spurts of sneezing, coughing and a runny nose.  I know from experience that the worst of this will probably only last 48 hours, so I settle in and try to get as much rest as possible.  The thought of getting anything accomplished does not even enter my mind.

I realize I’ve crested the hill, though, the day I become aware of ‘those things’ that are either out of place or that I had planned to get done before I was forced to take to my bed. Even though I have no energy or desire to do anything about them, I am aware, nonetheless, that they are starting to bug me.  In a strange sort of way, I see this as a good sign.

Off to the kitchen for another cup of tea.  In my mind, tea is only ever used for medicinal reasons.  As a child, in order to rid my body of some virus, I was forced to drink only tea… no solids for 2-3 days.  It was hot tea, cold tea, tea popsicles.  Yuk!!  I promised myself then and there that when I got over that bug, no tea would ever again pass my lips!  For the most part, I have kept that promise…except when socially necessary or sick.  I’ve long thought that the best part of drinking tea was the quote found on the tag dangling at the end of the teabag string.  

I’m not entirely wrong this time either.  As I remove the tea bag from its envelope, I read, 

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”  ~Lao Tzu

‘Hmm…let that steep in your brain, as the tea steeps in the hot water,’ I say to myself.

After contemplating that saying, I let my eyes wander around the room to survey my surroundings again.  I tell myself, ‘I have plenty of time to do everything I choose to do.  It will all get done in due time.’  

And it has. Now that I’m better, I’ve started to tackle some of my to-do list, but with a greater awareness of how I approach tasks.  I’ve started to practice focusing my attention on the single task at hand with calm and thoughtfulness, minus my normal sense of hurriedness.  It’s how I envision the universe unfolding each day; effortlessly, calmly and serenely. 

~SuZanne
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