Amazon.com Widgets
---

Cold and Flu Season · 8 March 2007

During cold and flu season, students are gone from school, workers call in sick, and many more just go and give their viruses to others. I tend to be one of those who just likes to spread the wealth. Not intentionally, mind you. I just do not like to miss work. I figure I can do something productive so I drag myself and my virus to work. Unless, of course, I can not drag myself out of bed.


On the occasions when I can not get out of bed, I usually have a day of sleep and a day of stupor. When the stupor is not too bad, I can think a little. The last time I was sick, I thought about being sick. I thought about how sometimes it is good to be sick and miss a day of work. Regardless of what crises are happening. Sometimes, we just need to stay in bed and do nothing at all but let our bodies merely recuperate from our lives.


The last time I was sick, I remember thinking that sometimes being sick is a good way to gain perspective on life. As long as those irritating illnesses are not life threatening, they help us to realize some of the things we take for granted. Like eating. Those nasty little visuses that keep us in bed for a few days take away our appetites and our senses of smell and taste. They make us feel crummy and sometimes we wish that we would die even though in reality we know that we do not really wish it. We know that it is just for a few days and when it is all over, we are not so much the worse for wear. We might even have shed a few unwanted pounds, albeit not in the way we would like to lose them. In the end, we realize that being sick for a few days might be an irritation and a disruption of life but not much more.


Being sick is no fun but sometimes, it is a reminder that life is more than work. It is always a reminder to be thankful for our health. And it is a reminder to be mindful of and hopeful for those who do not have good health. I hate being sick, but during the day of lucidity when I know that I am almost recovered, I realize that cold and flu season should just be a reminder of better times. Both those behind and those ahead. When looked at in the proper perspective, getting over a cold or the flu is one of the best days in life. At least in recent history.

© 2007 Michael T. Miyoshi

Share on facebook

Published 08 March 2007 in The RiverCurrentNews

---

Commenting is closed for this article.