- Re: first day back at work

April 17, 2003

Dear ,

Please don't berate yourself for being human!

Next year, when you look back on this, I bet you'll shake your head in amazement

that did as much as you have.

One piece of advice I give people when they're going through this entire

journey, is to treat themselves as they would treat a dear friend. If any of

us wrote this letter, I suspect you would be among the first to say the writer

was pushing too fast, expecting too much, being too hard on herself. Please

give yourself a break and treat yourself kindly.

You are not a failure, you are a person who has been through a very lot and is

trying to be " normal " a little too soon. Your response is totally normal, and

I suspect you're the only one who thinks your slacking off.

BTW - in case you haven't figured this out, 7.30 to 1.30 is 6 hours - hardly a

half day's work, by most standards.

Rest up, give yourself time to heal physically and emotionally.

(not a doctor, but you can trust me on this advice)

NYC

" E.Balassone " wrote:

> hey all. my plan was to work a 1/2 day today and another tomorrow... 7:30 am

to 1:30 pm. my dad was supposed to pick me up at 1:30 and take me home, since

where I work on campus isnt too far from where and I live. anyway. I made

it until about 11am and then starting feeling horrible...nausea, exhausted,

warm. so I called Chris. he took his lunch hour at 11:30 to come get me and take

me home. I told my boss I'd be in tomorrow at 7:30 and try to make it through

the whole 1/2 day.

>

> I feel like such a failure. told me to try to stick it out. but the

truth is it took alot for me to get to 11:30...only 4 hours of work. of course,

I have a better idea about what I can handle and how I feel than he does.

> so I came home and slept for 3 hours. going to do some light stuff around

here, maybe see a movie later.

> does anyone have any feedback about this? does it seem reasonable? I went into

this with anxiety, knowing how tired I have been. I was also anxious about not

being able to make it through the day...turns out that worry was justified.

> any input would be greatly appreciated.

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