We take good health for granted. Usually, we get up each day feeling normal, and go about the business of our daily activities without giving a thought to the fact that our good health allows us to do so. In talking to others in recent months, I realize just how much good health means, and how we do not give pause to feeling good, and what a completely different scenario it is when we are sick.
I spoke to my sister-in-law over the weekend. She has breast cancer, and due to an awful family history with the disease, has chosen a very aggressive approach to fighting hers. I commend her for being the very brave soul that she is. She underwent a double mastectomy and is currently undergoing chemotherapy with the most toxic chemotherapy agent as part of her aggressive treatment plan. She is awaiting reconstruction of both breasts, but other health issues are delaying the process. What she contends with on a daily basis, makes me eternally grateful for my good health. I really have so much to be thankful for.
Imagine, waking up to find you have lost your hair, eyelashes, and seen your fingernails first turn black, and then fall off entirely. Imagine debilitating fatigue, neuropathy and random swelling. My sister-in-law shared with me on how she will never again take her eyelashes for granted. Since she has none, she frequently has either dry eyes or contaminants in them. Wow, she has no eyelashes, hair, nails, or breasts and I get resentful over simply being tired. What I crybaby I am.
There have been a few times over the last decade where I have had strept throat, run-ins with the flu, and some bad colds. Each and every time that has happened, I have lamented feeling terrible. Each and every one of those experiences, no matter how brief, has made me recognize what feeling good means to me and just how important it is to have quality of life. Feeling awful, for me, feels like a death sentence. Worse, for others, it really is a death sentence.
I have seen how challenged we are to quantify good health, and conversely, how easy it is for us to quantify bad health. When good health is absent, we pay full attention and largely to all the negatives. Why this is so, I have no idea. Perhaps it is because we are a "glass is half empty" society.
I know one thing. Today, I have good health and I am not going to take it for granted. I am going to continue to work hard. I am going to celebrate my good health, and I am going to take every step to make sure I maintain it. If something unfortunate happens to me, there will be no shoulda, coulda, woulda conversations with myself. I will enjoy each day in good health and remember what it feels like to have freedom of movement, to be medication free, and to feel strong. I am also going to carry this important message to others.
A friend recently shared with me that "When he dies, he is going to be dead for a really long time", and so he is committed to putting forth his best effort now. He is enjoying good health, and intends to keep it that way. I think this sums things up nicely.
