In Illness, A Reminder Of Health

The pages of my blog have been eerily quiet recently. You could almost hear a pin drop around here. I could use the holiday season as a fine excuse. But it isn't the presence of festive cheer that makes my writing world silent of late.

You see, the evil crud hath struck me down.

Gone are the days when you had a little stuffy nose or tickle in your throat. Nowadays, you get some bizarre strain of strange upper respiratory crud that seems to wipe you out, drain you of your energy, and put you in a haze for a few days. Or longer.

Welcome to my world of late.

I consider myself a fairly healthy guy. I will admit, I don't always eat enough veggies or get enough sleep or stay as consistent with my running (or cycling) as I would like. Life is like that sometimes. And it's not like I haven't been sick before. It happens to the best of us. We don't live in a bubble, do we?

But this time around, the evil crud threw me for a loop.

It reminded me of how fragile our health really can be. You may have it today, now, but you can watch it slip away so quickly. Illness forces us to re-assess our efforts with friends, family, work, and possibly even the most basic daily activities. It challenges our routines. It probably forces us to re-examine our time demands and to re-factor those efforts, whether we like it or not. It can also be a strong and not-so-subtle reminder that we simply can't go 110% all the time. Sometimes, we need to step back from the edge - hopefully before we get sick, rather than afterwards.

And to think, it's only the evil crud. It's not a long-term chronic illness. At least I know that with rest, some good food, and plenty of fluids, this crap is going to get better. But what if it was something with far greater magnitude than just the evil crud?

Sometimes, we have to have darkness to remind us of the beauty of light. And so goes our health. We have moments of illness - hopefully, nothing more than the evil crud - to make us acutely aware of our health and what it takes to live fully, completely, vividly. It is in these hopefully-fleeting moments of sickness that we can fully appreciate our health and the beauty provided to us with moments of quality time with those we care about in life.

We don't have the liberty of getting those moments "just because". When we are ill, we don't automatically get them. Our health - and the health of those we love - is sacred. We only get one go-around with it. 

Thanks to everyone for being patient during this period of relative absence. I appreciate each and every one of you for taking the time to read. to comment, and to share. You have made the process of writing a hugely enjoyable one. Fortunately, the path of writing ahead is looking better now that the crud is receding. Here's to an epic 2014 ahead for all!

Photo credits: matsuyuki

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