What happens when you spend a couple days at home due to a stomach bug?  Obviously, you suffer some discomfort, but could there be some positives to discover?

I learned a couple lessons while stuck at home for the past couple days.

First, there really is benefit from giving yourself some extended down time.  Taking the pressure off and simply letting your body relax, as much as is possible when in pain, helps relieve stressors of life, and the Christmas season.  Missing a party and a special program at church is disappointing, but if you are able to resign yourself to the fact that there is nothing you can do about it, your emotions can settle as well.

Another lesson I learned is empathy and compassion.  Physical pain is not something I handle well.  A couple people who are close to me have a medical condition that causes them to periodically suffer similar symptoms to what I have had.  The reminder of what they deal with causes me to feel even more for them than I already did.  I know some other people who experience pain on a regular basis.  I can pray for them even more sincerely than I already was.

Both good and bad experiences come and go in life.  It is when you learn from each of them that you can live . . . your life to the fullest.