I stumbled into the restroom after donating platelets today and looked at my face in the mirror. It was nearly translucent white, my dark eyes showing the only hint of color. One second later, the room went black, I felt dizzy, and fainted against the wall behind me. That never happened before, all 4 times I’ve donated blood-and donating platelets is even less draining on the body than that. Thank G-d, I only scrapped my knee, but I’ve been dizzy the whole day since.

After, as I was laying back on the bed, sipping juice, I thought about how ironic this was. These past few months, I’ve been moving and doing and going, to the point where I could no longer concentrate on praying and people and relationships-the most important things. Just last night, I was up until 3AM, my mind too occupied to settle down for the night. And now, there was nothing else I could do but lie down and breath. Hashem always knows what I need; a little down time, a fresh start, a new perspective.

I never thought of fainting as beneficial, but this time, it was pretty good.