Advent. Go

Or, don’t go. Sometimes stopping is the best thing one can do. It’s also often the smartest thing, even when it’s not likely to happen.

In the midst of the seasonal rush, stopping is hard to do. I’m feeling that just now. I’ve had a near-constant headache for about 40 hours. It’s no fun. I’ve dealt with chronic headaches my entire adult life, so I’m used to it. I would like it to stop, but it’s on its own schedule and that schedule apparently says “go” for at least a while longer.

Alas, I’m not on my own schedule and I can’t bow to the one that seems to be running my head just now, so stopping because my head hurts simply wasn’t a choice today.

Ironically, in the midst of running some fun shopping errands I learned something. (Just because I have a headache does not mean I can’t still enjoy life. One of the odd gifts of living with headaches for more than 40 years is learning pretty well to manage and compartmentalize my pain much of the time. Not always, to be sure, but often I can simply ignore it for hours at a time.) So, on to the learning: Cheryl told me about a story she saw the other day about green-light therapy.

Apparently, looking at green light for 20 minutes reduces pain. There’s research on this that I haven’t delved into deeply enough to know why it might work, though it seems related to the truth that being outdoors is good for you.

In any case, despite the fact that “green means go,” maybe it’s time for me to stop at a green light for a while.

Alas, just right now, all of that will have to wait until after Christmas because for church professionals, well, it’s go time.