During the latter part of the work week last week, I developed my usual winter sickness: Violent cough, sore throat, clogged nose, overwhelming fatigue, and eyes that would never stop watering…you know, your basic nasty cold. The amount of times I wanted to scream because of the discomfort equaled about the number of times my co-workers told me that I looked like death. At the end of Signing Day on Wednesday, all day Thursday, all day Friday, and for the first half of the day on Saturday my miserableness hit a high and I did not enjoy being awake that much. However, I kept sane throughout the worst spells of my illness by doing my best to keep things in perspective.

You see, I too often take my health for granted, something that I think many of us young people do. As I sit here in my apartment on my comfortable couch with college basketball on I feel wonderful. I feel energetic, happy, and optimistic. I can see, smell, taste, and, for the most part, hear, perfectly. If I wanted to I could get up and go run a couple miles or I could go pump some iron. As of right now I have a spotless clean bill of health and I am feeling very fortunate.

However, I don’t always keep in mind how fortunate I am health wise. One week from now I could very well go the whole day without thinking about how lucky I am to not feel like Hell or totally neglect God by not offering so much as a thank you. But because I am coming off of a sickness and because I am writing this specific blog post, it is easier to think about this great gift that many of the people in my age group and younger enjoy.

When I was sick last week, a thought hit me that really made me forget about the minor discomfort I was in. I assessed my situation. I had a head cold. Out of all the terrible, life threatening, suffering illnesses out there, I had the most common and least severe ailment there is. I didn’t have a cell destroying painful disease like cancer, a crippling condition like Multiple Sclerosis, an unbearable chest pounding death sentence like heart disease, or any other of the millions of terrible health problems out there that plague the population. This thought made me realize two things: 1. What a complete wimp I was for even thinking I was experiencing discomfort at that particular moment. And 2. I got to really celebrate and appreciate what I have now because eventually we all die from something.

Those of us that enjoy good health MUST NOT take it for granted. We have to realize that we will not have limitless days where we don’t have something nagging us. Fast forward 40 years down the road. If we are lucky to be alive I can guarantee you that we will not feel as great as we do now. We will be stiffer, we will have conditions, we will have days where we feel like garbage. Heck, most likely in 20 years, no, not even 20 years…let’s say 10 years.. we will feel nowhere close to how we feel now. We got it way too good presently.

This post is not to lecture about keeping in shape, going to the doctor, or eating right. Rather, it is just a reminder to be appreciative of your health. We have a great quality of life right now and we need to recognize it and enjoy it. I promise to start doing a better job myself. Don’t Blink.