Who am I as a Virus

One of the tactics I have been using of late, whenever my mind begins acting up, is to ask myself, who am I. It is cool because, usually in that moment, with that question, the “I” as the answer jolts back into place, the chatter stops and I once again stand as the directive principle. Last week, I apparently attracted and caught or perhaps activated a flu virus, which gave me pause to once again consider the nature of the viruses and who I am as one with them.

Do viruses activate within us for the purpose of harming us or are they there to assist and support us? I choose to define them as supportive, albeit it sometimes very painful. But is it even fair to say that the virus itself is painful? Apparently, viruses, even those supposedly new ones being discovered, have been with us for a long time, encoded throughout the generations into our DNA and ready to activate at any time.

When I look at what the viruses do, it seems to me that their function in so many ways may be to cleanse the body. What happens when we get the flu; we’re uncomfortable for a while and all sorts of strange stuff begins coming out of the body. Every time I cough up those gobs of phlegm, I feel as though I am getting rid of something that should not be inside of me. That stuff coming out of me is stuff I want to get rid of and I want to keep it out of me.

Another point I have noticed in relation to the flu, is that I slow down, remember to drink lots of liquids, get plenty of sleep and so on. If it is an emergency or something very serious, I will take antibiotics. However, I prefer to take antibiotics only as a last resort, either when I am just unable to devote the time to recuperating on my own or when there is a risk of doing permanent damage to my physical body.

I don’t have the evidence to say without a doubt that, viruses are supportive or harmful to the physical body. However, I will say that the only way I see to stand as the determining factor in who one is, is to take complete responsibility for all things in relation to who one is. Herein, when it comes to activating and hosting a flu virus, I do not see it as an attack or an intrusion, but as an opportunity (albeit sometimes uncomfortable and untimely) to refocus on my physical body, communicate with the various parts, including the virus and work together as is best for all of the body. After all, once the virus has done its thing and body has recuperated, do you think the virus is going to just disappear? Of course not, it remains as one with the physical body. Even though,  not everything of my body is as I would have it, I am still going to embrace it, because it is part of me, an inseparable part of who I am.