Seeing the Good Within the Bad
I can't believe that it has almost been two weeks since I last posted. Wow! I wish that I could tell you that I just returned from a wonderful, tropical getaway but, that would be a complete lie. Need I remind you that I will not write about a bunch of fluff, or rather, things that aren't true or haven't really happened. Now that I have said that, I look forward to the day that I can provide you with every last detail of a warm, sunny vacation. I could so easily daydream about that today as I look out my front window to see heavy rain and chilly temperatures. After all, it is the second week of November. Should I really expect much more? Nah.
I am not even sure where I should begin with my unintentional disappearance. Since I last posted, Halloween has come and gone. We did something different this year. We went to my brother's house to trick or treat. Until last year, when we so briefly lived in Ohio with a neighborhood full of friends and great neighbors, we have always gone to my sister's house. To make a long story short, my sister's youngest, happens to have a birthday on Halloween. She is now a teenager and too old to trick or treat, which changed the dynamics for my daughter. Being an only child and living on a single street neighborhood that lacks many kids, we opted to let her enjoy the fun with her younger cousins. I know it was the right choice, yet, I still feel bad that we didn't stick with our normal tradition. Britt, please forgive us for missing your birthday. We love you bunches!
My biggest reason for being a slacker blogger, is the fact that I was not feeling well. Let me correct that statement. I still am fighting off, what I just found out a few days ago when visiting the doctor, the FLU! I walked into the doctors office pretty confident that I would be told I had bronchitis or walking pneumonia. I was wrong! I will tell you that I am a firm believer in the flu shot each year. I think that since I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, almost 9 years ago, I have had one every year. I also have not had the flu. I was a little surprised to hear flu as my diagnosis. I had the shot at the end of September. Luck has it, it is not fully effective for a month after you receive the shot.
A helpful bit of advice. If you haven't gotten your flu shot yet this year, go get one as soon as possible! I was thankful that I already had it, even if it wasn't fully effective yet. If I hadn't gotten it, I can't even imagine how awful I would have felt. The way I have been feeling the last few weeks was horrible. I had a cough that caused me to cough this awful sounding bark. Even worse, I would cough so hard that I would either be left practically gagging, or crying because I just wanted it to stop. Over the course of the last two weeks or so, it also included almost a constant low grade fever, body aches at onset, the feeling that I was breathing through a straw with someone standing on my chest, sore throat, plugged ears, bouts of stomach upset, lack of appetite, burning eyes and fatigue. Are you seeing my visual that I tried by best to create for you? Now, hurry....get that shot! From my experience, trust me, you don't want to get it. It's your choice. Just my suggestion. I still wake up each morning, with really high hopes that I will feel better and myself again. I am not losing hope as it feels like I am in the movie, "Groundhog Day". You know, how Bill Murray wakes up each day and it is like it is the same day, over and over. Yep. That pretty much sums up the feeling.
As feeling sick for entirely too long, has left me somewhat discouraged. I am still reminding myself to remain positive. I really try my best to always find something positive to pull out of the negatives. So, I was trying to come up with some of the positives that I could find amongst the yuckiness of my flu experience.
First and foremost, I am convinced that it must have been another experience to teach me to go with the flow. Don't get all worked up over things and just roll with it. Believe it or not, I really did this. For the most part. It wasn't easy for me. There were many days that I felt like the day slipped away and I accomplished very little. Okay, I admit, I did still keep up on all my laundry and kept my house cleaned. What I didn't do, were the additional things that I had piling up on my "To Do" list that constantly runs in my head. With the holidays fast approaching, my mind is adding things to that list faster than I can keep up with them. Another positive that kind of spins off of that is the fact that I got sick now and not closer to the holidays. I am crossing my fingers that I stay healthy once this is out of my system. I would really love to enjoy the holidays without coughing all over everyone. Nice visual again. Sorry about that. I am actually a very respectful cougher.
This one will make you laugh. As a result from all the constant coughing, my voice was somewhat raspy. So, I was able to have one of those sexy, raspy voices while I was not feeling so hot. You know when you are sick and you look at yourself in the mirror and think, "Whoa, who is that?" As someone who never really loved her voice, this was kinda fun. I would go out and about and every time I spoke, I almost felt like someone else took over. Sometimes, I secretly wish I could keep that voice. I almost prefer it over my usual, ordinary voice. Until next time.
Another positive that I allowed to happen is something that I struggle with. Letting anyone help me. I am sure I have mentioned this before. I don't like to ask for help or even accept help. I like to be able to do things for myself and would rather work harder or struggle through something than ask for help. It may be a twisted way of thinking but, I feel I have failed myself if I seek others help. Well, I actually leaned on my husband for a little bit of help. He was great about going to pick up dinner or asking if there was anything he could do. My daughter even told me that she would do everything I usually do, if she could.
Although, being sick is a horrible, no fun, waste of time. It allowed me to sit back and think about all of the positive things that are in my life every day. Sometimes, when we are busy and caught up in everything going on around us, we forget to take notice of these things. It was almost as if having the flu forced me to slow down and see how lucky I am and all of the wonderful things in my life.
I hope you all are healthy and please don't feel I was preaching on the flu shot. I am just merely speaking from my experience. I wouldn't wish the flu on my worst enemy. I was simply giving some encouragement to get it in order to keep yourself healthy. Being healthy is one of my top priorities. Since being diagnosed with diabetes, I no longer take my health for granted.
Have a wonderful day! Since I began to write this, the sun has peeked out and that leaves me so very happy! Chili is in the crock pot and I may just sneak out and run a few errands while I enjoy the sunshine. Today is going to be a good day! Like it says in the picture above...
Every day may not be good...But there's something good in every day.
A helpful bit of advice. If you haven't gotten your flu shot yet this year, go get one as soon as possible! I was thankful that I already had it, even if it wasn't fully effective yet. If I hadn't gotten it, I can't even imagine how awful I would have felt. The way I have been feeling the last few weeks was horrible. I had a cough that caused me to cough this awful sounding bark. Even worse, I would cough so hard that I would either be left practically gagging, or crying because I just wanted it to stop. Over the course of the last two weeks or so, it also included almost a constant low grade fever, body aches at onset, the feeling that I was breathing through a straw with someone standing on my chest, sore throat, plugged ears, bouts of stomach upset, lack of appetite, burning eyes and fatigue. Are you seeing my visual that I tried by best to create for you? Now, hurry....get that shot! From my experience, trust me, you don't want to get it. It's your choice. Just my suggestion. I still wake up each morning, with really high hopes that I will feel better and myself again. I am not losing hope as it feels like I am in the movie, "Groundhog Day". You know, how Bill Murray wakes up each day and it is like it is the same day, over and over. Yep. That pretty much sums up the feeling.
As feeling sick for entirely too long, has left me somewhat discouraged. I am still reminding myself to remain positive. I really try my best to always find something positive to pull out of the negatives. So, I was trying to come up with some of the positives that I could find amongst the yuckiness of my flu experience.
First and foremost, I am convinced that it must have been another experience to teach me to go with the flow. Don't get all worked up over things and just roll with it. Believe it or not, I really did this. For the most part. It wasn't easy for me. There were many days that I felt like the day slipped away and I accomplished very little. Okay, I admit, I did still keep up on all my laundry and kept my house cleaned. What I didn't do, were the additional things that I had piling up on my "To Do" list that constantly runs in my head. With the holidays fast approaching, my mind is adding things to that list faster than I can keep up with them. Another positive that kind of spins off of that is the fact that I got sick now and not closer to the holidays. I am crossing my fingers that I stay healthy once this is out of my system. I would really love to enjoy the holidays without coughing all over everyone. Nice visual again. Sorry about that. I am actually a very respectful cougher.
This one will make you laugh. As a result from all the constant coughing, my voice was somewhat raspy. So, I was able to have one of those sexy, raspy voices while I was not feeling so hot. You know when you are sick and you look at yourself in the mirror and think, "Whoa, who is that?" As someone who never really loved her voice, this was kinda fun. I would go out and about and every time I spoke, I almost felt like someone else took over. Sometimes, I secretly wish I could keep that voice. I almost prefer it over my usual, ordinary voice. Until next time.
Another positive that I allowed to happen is something that I struggle with. Letting anyone help me. I am sure I have mentioned this before. I don't like to ask for help or even accept help. I like to be able to do things for myself and would rather work harder or struggle through something than ask for help. It may be a twisted way of thinking but, I feel I have failed myself if I seek others help. Well, I actually leaned on my husband for a little bit of help. He was great about going to pick up dinner or asking if there was anything he could do. My daughter even told me that she would do everything I usually do, if she could.
Although, being sick is a horrible, no fun, waste of time. It allowed me to sit back and think about all of the positive things that are in my life every day. Sometimes, when we are busy and caught up in everything going on around us, we forget to take notice of these things. It was almost as if having the flu forced me to slow down and see how lucky I am and all of the wonderful things in my life.
I hope you all are healthy and please don't feel I was preaching on the flu shot. I am just merely speaking from my experience. I wouldn't wish the flu on my worst enemy. I was simply giving some encouragement to get it in order to keep yourself healthy. Being healthy is one of my top priorities. Since being diagnosed with diabetes, I no longer take my health for granted.
Have a wonderful day! Since I began to write this, the sun has peeked out and that leaves me so very happy! Chili is in the crock pot and I may just sneak out and run a few errands while I enjoy the sunshine. Today is going to be a good day! Like it says in the picture above...
Every day may not be good...But there's something good in every day.
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