I Hate Being Sick, but It Had Me Thinking

I've been sick for the past two days, and now it's really hitting me. It seems, without fail, every October something like this happens to me, whether it's the common cold, a respiratory illness, or something even close to COVID, as had happened last year when my floors were being remodeled.

I remember it vividly (like almost every other time) because I can't stand being sick. It's one of the things I hate most in my life.

But maybe it's a blessing in disguise because it got me thinking about what it means to be well in our lives—what it means to push away toxicity and not allow anything to infect us that doesn't belong there.

Now, I'm not trying to say people are like viruses, because I know that can sound harsh. What I mean is, you should always want to seek the right balance in your existence, not letting in anything negative, draining, or diminishing. Equilibrium instead of losing your center of gravity and well-being.

And I'm a realist. I understand that sometimes, in our lives, there's no escaping negative situations or events that are out of our control.

That's not what I'm talking about.

But think about it.

We can do the best we can, do all the right things, eat healthy, get the right nutrients, and somehow, some way, a virus will still find its way into our lives and throw everything off-kilter.

Now, being sick doesn't mean I'm not going to be working on something. I'm writing this right now because I feel like I need to at the end of a tough day. I believe in working even when under the weather, but this post is for some release before I wind down at 10:00 pm.

My body didn't want to do anything but relax with my time today, but my mind thought that I must tackle daily affairs while I'm feeling under the weather. Maybe tomorrow will look different, but it is what it is.

Let nothing into your life that does not serve your greater purpose. I know getting sick is often outside of our control, but there are things we are able to do that help mitigate an illness when it arises and methods to reduce the amount of times your immune system is attacked.

Sometimes you've got to let negative people go, not because you hate them, dislike them, or wish ill on them, but because where you're headed, you might be unequally yoked with them. If you understand ancient agrarian cultures, when two animals are unequally yoked, one of the animals' necks can snap, and they might be injured.

That's the way it was.

I'm not trying to turn this into an agrarian history lesson, though, so let's go back to the illness metaphor.

If you're heading in a certain direction, not wanting anything to infect your life's immune system, sometimes you must let people be and stay out of unseemly situations.

Now, I will say right off the bat, I don't believe in looking backward to bring some type of venom into my current system.

The past is the past, and it will remain so. It is history. It is permanently etched, and there's nothing you can do to remove it, but bringing poison into a healthy environment is a recipe for plague or death (not trying to be biblical here).

You know, keep your present moment about progress. Think of progress as the cure that you've found once in your life to remedy a life full of unforeseen malaise.

What is it? A different focus that allows your current life to flourish apart from the viruses of the past.

My point is, we need to be like a physician to our current circumstances. The best physicians help you prevent the need to see them in the first place, right?

Take the valuable things of the past and use them to grow your wisdom here in the present and perhaps even inspire yourself in many ways to keep the progress moving into the future.

It's a beautiful concept when you think about it.

I believe the easiest way to remain ill is to look at your past as the days of your glory because, for me personally, I think my mid-30s into my 40s, 50s, and 60s will be the best years of my life.

I don't look back anymore, and that keeps my existential equilibrium balanced.

Yeah, I have fun memories. There are things I did in the past that I enjoyed, and I'll never forget those times. But at the same time, there's so much more life left to live that I want to make better memories to come. The man I am today looks at my present and is grateful. There's so much in my life that I have to be thankful for, and I believe in the things I desire so much that they will come to pass at the right time in my life.

Many people I used to know looked backward all the time, and that led to an ultimate disconnect for me. The man I am today sees those things are already done. There's always a fresh path to take, a new endeavor to undertake.

New events are to come that will make everything behind you, while it might be important, look like half the health of the vitality of the current moment and beyond.

Now, I'm not trying to say looking back is always a bad habit, but don't you want to do something new? Make a mark on this world that leaves a legacy for generations? That's kind of where I'm at in my life. I really want to write the next magnificent novel (and even if they're all children to me, I must progress).

And I've said before, I don't believe in lottery tickets. I refuse to believe in hoping for the numbers to line up correctly in a game of chance. I believe, with a little bit of work, a little bit of time, and a little bit of faith, everything will line up perfectly at the right time for me. So I don't play the lottery. I don't believe in it. My luck is best made on my own. Or I might say my blessings come from above, and my work allows that to function—meaning luck is irrelevant.

I love the casino aesthetic, though, and find it amazing. It's one of my favorite aesthetics in this world. But I don't believe we should gamble when it comes to the future when our odds are our own to make. Keeping this mindset keeps my current equilibrium, my contemporary vitality, not seeking that which is behind me.

While there is positivity in spontaneity sometimes, I believe the best results come from making your own luck or seeking the Divine's help in that which you seek to accomplish in this life.

That will keep your present and future in a healthy state, whereas the ghosts of dead bones might keep their plagues when you place the rose-colored glasses over your eyes.

We should make a mark on this world, no matter how small.

I'm not trying to turn this into a religious post, but I must say I believe that God alone is the One who is responsible for successes and failures. And I entrust my life to Him and for Him to bring things to pass in my life. I am not ashamed of that which I believe, being a man of faith, and that is how I choose to walk.

The corpses of the past might have a contagion that should not invade a walk of new life. When you're constantly stirring the bones, that's going backward. I got away from many people in my life who think that way—who go back 20 years ago, or whatever it might be, looking at those things fondly instead of trying to make new memories and new goals, with new horizons to reach.

Speaking from personal experience, I don't believe in rehashing old wounds. And there's a reason scars are scars. They've grown past the capacity to let something dangerous in, something that will cause illness. Let them be what they are. Those things actually give someone character, in my opinion.

So let it be what it is and let it remain dead.

Yesterday has passed, now is occurring, and tomorrow is yet to be.

I truly believe the best way to keep yourself well in your life is to keep moving forward.

Now, I also wait in expectation of having a rendezvous with destiny.

But I believe that, to ultimately fulfill the destiny we're reaching for, we must get past the traps of holding on to things that are already done.

Yeah, nostalgia is a funny thing, right? But those rose-colored glasses I mentioned earlier won't get you very far, and you're not seeing clearly, are you? It's a filter, and filters aren't good.

Looking too much at the past is a wellspring of disease. So stay healthy, all right?

But sitting here, trying to recover as my night comes to a close so I can get some proper rest, made me think of how metaphorical sickness in our lives is often caused by looking back too much.

The truth is, there are other people out there who might be able to help you with something, but you're ultimately going to be the best doctor for what it is you're trying to accomplish by remaining in the present moment and looking toward the future. You can't let old habits make you sick in the present.

You want to be well, don't you?

Keep your life to a certain standard and don't compromise that immune system that is there to protect you.

My thoughts are all over the place with this one, but I think I might be a bit gone from the medicine, so what I'm trying to say is, don't allow yesterday to infect your current equilibrium.

Your body wants to find balance when something foreign has invaded it, so in the same way, your destiny has to have a balance.

You can't let yesterday's disappointments come forward into the present to sneak its way into your system.

I believe the best way to move forward—the best way to keep ourselves well—is to prevent these things from happening in the first place.

Eliminate toxic behavioral cycles for good, and don't let negative individuals have any space to tell you what it is you should do when you know what will keep you well.

But the beautiful thing about being sick is that you can always take medicine, you can always ease those symptoms, and you can move forward.

And while it might be a patch until the time passes, that doesn't mean it's not important.

The best way to maintain equilibrium is to keep illness at bay, but when it inevitably comes, you'll have the proper tools to heal yourself if you understand that you alone hold your convalescence.