A Puking Epiphany: How a Stomach Bug Revolutionized My Existence

I awakened the giant within then made a time block schedule

Two weeks ago I had my thyroid removed.

Five days later I was hit with a stomach bug which then kept me in bed in a dark room for 48 hours.

I felt depressed, watched the Tony Robbin’s Documentary I Am Not Your Guru on Netflix, awakened my own giant within, and decided my life needed a complete overhaul. I’ll write more about this in a future post. Right now, I need to discuss my insights from playing with weekly time blocks.

Me getting triaged in the ER- photosensitive and with intractable vomiting- 48 hours away from awakening the giant within.

Nope, this ain’t gonna work

The summary of my awakening was that my current life needed to change drastically and that there wasn’t anything particularly nuanced about it. I didn’t need any type of fancy evaluation or pros/cons list. It was obvious and did not need much deliberation. I spend most of my time on work or work-related tasks. I don’t want to spend my time like this. Change is needed. Period. Please Body do not feel the need to give me any other illnesses to bring this point home. The message was received and action will be taken, thank you.

Map it out

Like any other organized person who loves plotting things out, I needed to see what my schedule looks like today and compare this to what I would want my schedule to look like.

Exhibit A: My current weekly schedule

See all that blue? That is work and work-related tasks. I don’t like how much blue takes over my life.

Green represents socialization. My socialization consists of me talking to my sister, otherwise known as Otter. She lives with me so we sometimes incidently talk. This is nice.

Red is procrastination. For me, this is mostly targeted 90-Day Fiancé Facebook videos. No, I have never watched a full episode of 90 Day Fiancé. Yes, I know most of the characters’ names. This is also not how I want to spend my time.

I don’t get to spend nearly enough time on cleaning/hygiene/errands (yellow), exercise (turquoise), creative pursuits (purple), and spirituality (maroon).

Exhibit B: My ideal schedule if I worked 32 hrs/week

I have student loans and I am part of the public student loan forgiveness (PSLF) program so for 22 more months I will have to work at least 30 hrs/week at a nonprofit.

This is an example of what an ideal reduced work schedule would look like.

1. I would not do work outside of work. I would get a job that is confined to the scheduled hours. As a result, this schedule has a lot less blue.

2. This schedule has a lot more yellow!!! This actually surprised me because I thought the amount of exercise or socialization would go up the most. As it turns out, if I get more time, then the first thing I want to do is spend more time on things like cleaning and self-care. I am kind of particular, so I want to go into more detail about this.

My current home cleaning goals are to:

[A] Not have dishes in the dishwasher

[B] Get laundry done (but not necessarily put away)

[C] Vacuum once a week

These three goals are my minimum viable product for keeping the house clean. It does keep things reasonable but I LOVE CLEANING! I’m a brown Marie Kondo who loves to go around the house wiping things down and saying arigatou. I don’t want a housekeeper. I want the time to do it myself because it brings me joy! See in the photo below all the cleaning opportunities that I miss out on because I don’t have time. Walking past these every day is like a rockstar walking past a guitar hanging on the wall. Oh, the fun we could have…

My soul aches

Exhibit C: Life Without Work

This is a possible ideal schedule for my life without work.

1. No blue, no work. The most notable thing is this chart contains no work whatsoever. I am super into financial independence and the FI/RE movement so this is not a pie-in-the-sky idea for me. I think I could be fully financially independent in 2-4 years. However, at this point in my life, it is more important for me to create a schedule that is more in alignment with my values today, than it is to be perfectly financially independent 2-4 years from now. That is to say, I am unwilling to spend all my time working today so I can be FIRE tomorrow.

2. More time for relationships. This schedule has a lot more time for relationships, represented by the green. I want to deliberately spend time to foster relationships with friends. I’m grateful that I still have friends given that I am currently investing nearly zero time into my friendships. This is unacceptable and if I continue on this path I will surely have few close relationships within the next 5-10 years. Spending time building relationships is one of primary changes I want to make with my time. This would include spending one-on-one time with friends, common interest groups (meditation, dance, exercise, book clubs, etc), and hosting parties like the famous Nick Gray’s 2 Hour Cocktail Party .

3. More time for exercise. My current exercise routine includes running a mile a few times a week and some bodyweight exercises. Pretty much, I am just trying to prevent myself from completely rotting. I am no athlete but I love to exercise. As a physician assistant, I spend all day talking to people about their health and I genuinely believe exercise is the #1 thing we can do to prolong our healthspan and lifespan. Unless you are eating more than 24 grams of sugar a day. If so, cut that shit out right now. C’mon, it’s 2023, people!

   Exercise changes I would make:

   [A] I would run more miles! I just like running.

   [B] Exercise classes: Spinning and Hot Yoga for me

   

   Once I was at spin class and the instructor played a Dolly Parton “Jolene” remix. How did he know “Jolene” was my top cardio song?! I died.

   [C] A personal trainer to help with strengthening exercises

   [D] I would take time to track my progress. I love tracking everything and I’ve wanted to deep dive into learning about training zones and all the nuances of exercise. Here is my first trial of using my chest strap to track my heart rate before my surgery. It was so accurate!

   

   4. More time for self-care. EVEN MORE YELLOW!!! Ok reader, you might be thinking, what could this woman possibly do with more yellow time? Above I noted that I would love to have more time to clean things regularly. I also want more time for self-care/personal hygiene.

   My current personal hygiene routine is as follows:

   [A] I barely have enough to time shower and put on a small amount of makeup and go

   [B] Toenails/mustache hairs/eyebrows are done when I notice them which is usually about two weeks too late.

   [C] Some crucial things that are almost too embarrassing to admit are not getting done. For example, MY LEGS ARE NOT GETTING SHAVED. Sometimes I shave my ankles because I have a pair of cropped work pants. This results in a condition I call “fur capris”. Not okay.

The unfortunate reality that is “fur capris”

My ideal personal hygiene routine:

• I smell nice, like a cookie! See photo below

• I lotion and exfoliate everyday

• I have a regular schedule for hair cuts, cutting my nails, removing body hair etc.

• I’d always be super well hydrated

• I wear my hair down in its full glory

• I get to be semi-glam more than just occasionally

I love getting pretty. I have a sense that I’ve lived many lifetimes hoping to be an attractive female the way many buddhists reincarnate hoping they return as an arhat. It is not wasted on me. When I look in the mirror I feel my ancestors say “Oh yes honey, that will work!” So yes, I see how it could seem vain to add even more yellow just so I can have to look pretty and smell like freshly baked cookies, but it brings my spirit joy.

How to Smell Like a Cookie 101

5. More time for creative pursuits. The purple represents my creative adventures. One of these pursuits is my podcast (Build a Wealthy Spirit). Right now, my sister, Michelle manages most of the podcast overhead and I come in on Saturdays and record. I definitely want to spend more time working on our podcast. I also want to learn a million other things. I’d want to take the writing course Write of Passage that my sister Michelle took. I’d want to learn every single language that I could. Maybe I would take linguistics to connect the languages to each other! I’d also have to get much more proficient at Malayalam, the language of my heritage, because I don’t want to upset my ancesters. And I would learn to code, thats a language right? The possibilities are endless! I do see the time-block schedule and I see there are only four hours a day that can be allocated to these pursuits given my other priorities so I understand these things will be learned slowly over time. Still I’m excited.

Despite having a schedule filled with work, I was able to learn Spanish thanks to the help of my awesome private tutor Dino pictured above! More languages to come

Conclusions

Creating these three weekly timeblocks, gave me a tactile appreciation for how little time we really have. Even in the no-work schedule, I have to be judicious with how I spend my time to ensure I am making time for my priorities. My current time block schedule opened my eyes to how insane it would be to continue working the way I currently do. If I did, I will eventually damage my health and I will not have any relationships. Logistically there is no other option if I am unwilling to make changes to my current situation.

Often, when we continue on schedules like my current one without an exit plan, it is because we fall into the trap of overestimating the duration of our lives.  We convince ourselves that we have all the time in the world to pursue our dreams, make meaningful connections, and prioritize our well-being. By acknowledging the brevity of our existence, we can make changes with the appropriate sense of urgency.  Do you hear that universe? No more episodes of acute illness or unusual diseases are needed. Nope, I’m changing course.