{"id":753,"date":"2026-05-12T19:28:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T18:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/talkingyorkie.wales\/?p=753"},"modified":"2026-05-12T19:28:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T18:28:23","slug":"he-makes-me-lie-down-shingles-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talkingyorkie.wales\/?p=753","title":{"rendered":"He Makes Me Lie Down (Shingles #4)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s Mental Health Awareness Week 2026, so now seems to be a good time to publish my latest blog which is focusing on the importance of rest.<\/em> I am going to (try to) complete this in one sitting without spending days editing it. I have got 6 unfinished blogs on my website, but I’m not writing this one for any specific purpose or to be published in a newspaper or a professional website. So it’s just me being me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started writing this blog post when I was off sick again<\/em> with the fourth outbreak of shingles since New Year’s Day. I hadn’t even fully recovered from the first lot and here I am again. Shingles came as a surprise when it first arrived in January. And then I had 3 outbreaks, one straight after the other. I was really poorly and had to have 5 weeks off work – almost the whole of the first half term of 2026. That in itself was devastating. I know that’s a big word, but I’m not exaggerating. In 40 years of work, I had never had more than two or three days off consecutively. But I was really poorly. (I didn’t wash my hair for ten days!) So, I had no choice but to get my first ever sick note. I was devastated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I absolutely hate being off work. It’s not through any sense of obligation or sense of duty to the school. I truly love my job and wanted to be there. I also despised being part of the community of people who don’t work. Not because I don’t like the people (I do like them very much), but because I am not ready to join that community. It’s not my time yet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in January, when the shingles was really kicking off, I couldn’t understand why I was having multiple outbreaks at the same time. I have always been careful to look after my health: get enough sleep; limit caffeine and alcohol; exercise regularly; regularly spend time with others; eat 5 fruit and veg a day etc etc bla bla bla. When I Googled shingles (looking at reputable websites of course!) it clearly stated that multiple outbreaks of shingles only happens to people who have compromised immune systems. I brought this information, which is available on the NHS website, to the GP. I said, I haven’t got a compromised immune system, so why is this happening to me? She said that shingles can be caused by prolonged exposure to stress, which causes high levels of cortisol, which in turn results in a compromised immune system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The five years prior to Shingles #1 had been very <\/em>stressful. (My school friends: don’t worry, school has never been part of the stress). One sentence summary: Mum and Dad in Yorkshire getting ill then dying then selling our childhood home. Of course, as hard as they are, these things are just part of life. What I went through in those five years are universally common life experiences and were certainly not unique experiences. Although they were unique to me<\/em>. It turns out that to just keep going and take on more and more without asking for help, and to keep trying to do all the activities and be the same person that I was before it all began, wasn’t such a good idea after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January, all my friends and family were telling me to rest. That’s easy, I thought, because right now I don’t have any choice but to rest! So I went along with it until three days before the February half term break. Although I had residual neuralgia (which apparently can go on for months<\/em> after the rash has disappeared) and accompanying fatigue, it was sooo good to be back at school. Apart from one little meltdown, the latter half of the term went well and then it was Easter. We had a lovely time at Easter, especially our trip to Norfolk to meet our new grandson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But here I am again, back to square one. Or perhaps I had never left square one; perhaps I just conned myself into believing that I had. BIG shout-out now for my mental-health-clinical-nurse-specialist daughter for bringing me to this place today, where I can start on the long road to recovery. Sweetheart, I want the world to know what you have done for me and how incredibly proud we are of you. At the start of Shingles #4 I found out that I also have fluctuating high blood pressure. I have never, in my life had high blood pressure, and never expected to have it because of my aforementioned ‘healthy lifestyle’. It turns out, as my daughter brought to my attention, that I also have a fairly sizeable list of other symptoms related to unmanaged stress. How hadn’t I seen it? I mean, I was a nurse myself in a former life. Our daughter said that she has observed that I am in a constant state of stress and anxiety and need to do something to address it before I put myself into an early grave. It was a real wake-up call. I knew I couldn’t postpone addressing it any longer, without risking serious consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most well known passages in the Bible is Psalm 23, The Lord is My Shepherd. The second verse reads, ‘He makes me lie down in green pastures.’ It’s interesting to note the use of the verb makes<\/em>. One might expect it to read something more like He shows<\/em> or indicates<\/em> the green pastures. But the word makes<\/em> is quite deliberate. Now, sheep are naturally anxious creatures. Because of this, they need the Shepherd to lead them to the safe, green pastures and to actually make them lie down. <\/em>Sheep are also a bit stupid. At the same time that I took this photo, there was a sheep with her two lambs out on the road. They were in a place of danger and very scared. But they couldn’t remember how they got there nor how to get back into the field. They needed their Shepherd to lead<\/em> them back to the safe place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Shepherd, in his wisdom and with love and care, has used shingles to make me lie down, to stop and to rest. During this season of enforced rest, I have read no fewer than 5 books. Those of you who know me well will realise that because I am usually very busy and read slowly, my annual count rarely exceeds one! One of the books I’ve read so far is the Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer. It was an uncomfortable read, I can tell you! But it was a message that I needed to hear. Speaking about Sabbath, a Hebrew word meaning to stop<\/em>, he says, ‘Something in our minds or bodies gives out, and we end up flat on our backs… we all come to Sabbath, voluntarily or involuntarily’.<\/em> To practise Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments. Now that I am in my fifth month of sickness, I am beginning to understand the importance of this instruction for everyone, including me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I only had 2 weeks off work this time, but I have returned with a different mindset and a different approach. I have reduced my working hours to 4 days a week and will finish early if I am feeling too tired. Furthermore, I haven’t been out in the evening since December, but that’s okay for now. I’m learning to appreciate getting into bed early with my latest book. Back in January, when I was off sick with Shingles #1, I published a blog entitled, ‘A Time for Everything’. You can read it here: https:\/\/talkingyorkie.wales\/?p=386<\/a> . In that blog, I said that I was hoping for a quick recovery so that I could ‘get back to my wonderful, busy life.’ What I realise now is that the time for being over-busy has passed and I must never return to it if I want to stay well. I need to schedule regular rest and allow the Shepherd to lead me beside quiet waters and make me lie down in green pastures. Only then will He be able to restore my soul. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you enjoyed this blog, add a comment and click to be notified next time I post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have a great day,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharon x<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s Mental Health Awareness Week 2026, so now seems to be a good time to publish my latest blog which is focusing on the importance of rest. I am going to (try to) complete this in one sitting without spending days editing it. I have got 6 unfinished blogs on my website, but I’m not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mental-health","category-one-church"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/talkingyorkie.wales\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/talkingyorkie.wales\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/talkingyorkie.wales\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talkingyorkie.wales\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talkingyorkie.wales\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=753"}],"version-history":[{"count":73,"href":"https:\/\/talkingyorkie.wales\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":828,"href":"https:\/\/talkingyorkie.wales\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753\/revisions\/828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/talkingyorkie.wales\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talkingyorkie.wales\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/talkingyorkie.wales\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}