I apologize for not writing much over the course of the last week, the truth is I have not felt up to it. The canker sore I complained about last Wednesday proved to be just the beginning of a string of ailments.

On Thursday, I came down with a strange shortness of breath condition. Throughout the entire day, I felt like I had just finished running 10 miles up hill. I was pretty uncomfortable and a tad bit worried.

I woke up Friday morning and I no longer noticed any shortness of breath. Why? Well, first off it was mostly gone. But the real reason I didn’t pay much attention to the previous day’s annoyance was because I now had a splitting headache. Feeling like my head had just been ran over by a truck, I swallowed more pills than I have ever taken before. It provided a little relief but the headache never left completely and within a few hours it was back to throbbing status again.

After Friday, I battled my headache on Saturday and Sunday as well. Although the pain lessened each day, I had never had a headache linger for so long. But by Monday I was feeling pretty good. Then I woke up on Tuesday…

I started off the work week with one of my signature colds. Yesterday was annoying and today was pretty miserable. I am hoping that I shake this nasty cold soon, crossing my fingers that I feel better tomorrow.

Dealing with various discomforts over the past week has reminded me of a couple things. First, it is so easy to take for granted your health. I do it all the time! Life is just so much more enjoyable without a stuffy nose and watery eyes or without a pounding pain in your head. I need to do a better job of enjoying the numerous days I enjoy when I feel 100%.

Second, I have been reminded that even when I am “sick” I am lucky. Having the audacity to whine about a cold quickly reminds me of my blessings. I know cancer patients and other terminally ill people would take a headache 10X the strength of what I had on Friday if it just meant that they were given one day without their symptoms and medication side effects. Yes, I know I have nerve writing this post.

I hope I feel better but I also hope I can do a better job at putting my “annoyances” into perspective. These days in this country, a cold certainly won’t kill you. Don’t Blink.