Please forgive me in advance for what I might say in this article. My brain is compromised. One minute I’m healthy and feeling great, and the next minute, I’m
coughing, choking, sweating, and feeling like my eyes are falling out of my face. The Saturday clinic had no appointments available, so I have swallowed everything in my medicine cabinet to help me survive.

A creative editor friend shared this appropriate line: “I’m Sneezy, Sleepy, Dopey, and Grumpy. I want to see the Doc and get Happy again, and I’m not Bashful about it.”

One thing I know for sure, I’m a pathetic sick person. I’m not as bad as my whining and moaning and complaining might suggest, but I still feel sorry for myself—every minute. I am miserable and need sympathy.

I’ve had a lot of time to stare at the TV, throw used Kleenex on the floor, and mindlessly scan emails and websites. The days are long, and the nights are longer.

I have done one productive activity in the last few days, and that is reminiscing—something we can all do, even if we’re not on top of our game. It was fun and good for me—a combination not easy to achieve. You could try it too, even if you’re not living under a germ tent.

Allowing my brain to scan all ages and stages of my life, I began two lists, “My favorite events” and “Not so proud moments.” Being an everyday human supply us with pleasurable opportunities plus lessons often learned in the hardest of ways.

Several days passed while I thought of childhood, teenage years, college, marriage, parenting, career, divorce, second marriage, retirement, and life as a senior. It is crazy-amazing how much we can pack into one lifetime. Both lists are works-in-progress, as they should be—I’m still alive, and every breath provides more rumination seeds.

The value of this exercise includes carrying me away from my present puniness and helping me shift thoughts to times of laughter, sharing, and learning. Life was, and is, rich if we allow time to remember and appreciate what we’ve had and what we still have, even when we are sick in bed.

It also provided a picture of proof that life has had far more favorable than not-so-proud moments. The latter helped me recognize, too, that the bad wasn’t so bad. Seen in the span of a lifetime, they seemed less significant.

Every day, even the sick ones, challenge us to make the best of what we have. Sometimes menial or seemingly unimportant projects can lift us, even if only slightly, to happier emotions and hope for tomorrow.

Stay well! Hopefully, by the time you read this, I am as good as I once was.

Until the next time: Live while you live.

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