Just like everyone else and their proverbial "brother" around here, I've been fighting upper respiratory/sinus infection stuff for a while. After being stricken with laryngitis for a couple of days this week and absolutely being worn out at the end of every day, I had the good sense to do something about it. Yesterday after school was out I headed to the doctor to see if they could give me something to get to finally feeling better. The waiting room there at the clinic was a testimony to the fact that I wasn't alone and signs were everywhere telling people that if they were coughing to please put on one of the masks next to the front desk. I was in and out of there in under an hour and I thought that wasn't too bad considering all of the people that were sick in line ahead of me. With antibiotics in hand and the age old advice of "drink plenty of water and get extra rest" given to me by the doctor, I headed home. You know I was really thankful to be able to get to the doctor in the first place and to have the health insurance to help pay for it. I went without health coverage for a couple of months this summer because I didn't want to have to pay for the expensive COBRA policy that I would need until school began again. My prayer all summer long was that I could make it without having any major things happen to me. God provided the way and I made it but I don't want to ever have to do that again. The sad truth is that there are still people right now that don't have insurance and perhaps never shall. I had taken for granted the fact that I always would be insured and for the first time in my life when I had absolutely zero coverage, it was a very sobering wake up call. Perhaps I needed that.
Item #37 on my list of 60 things to do before turning 60 next year is simply stated.....
"Stay healthy!"
It seemed like a good thing to put down, you know? I mean, who doesn't want to stay in good health? Lately I've been examining some of my habits, both bad and good, that have a great impact upon just how healthy or unhealthy this nearly 6-decades old Kansas farm girl is on any given day. I hate to drink water but don't mind a bit drinking diet soda. I like to walk for exercise but I don't go nearly as far or as much as I could. I'm lazy that way these days it seems. My day doesn't go well unless it has begun with 3 cups of coffee, with each of them being sweetened with artificial sugar and creamer. I burn that proverbial "candle" at both ends. Every day. All the time. And when that candle burns out, I just get another one and do the same thing all over again. It tells on a person, in many ways. I'm thankful that I don't have to medicine on a daily basis but of course as the years go on, that can and perhaps will change. On a positive note~I've been trying to do better on my eating habits and have been able to shed several excess pounds that I put on here during my first lonely months in a new place far away from my old home in Kansas. Not that I'm done yet because I have several more to get rid of if I choose. But at least it is a good start and oh yes. One other thing. I write most every day.
I never really thought much about how writing a blog could be beneficial to one's overall health but over the course of the past nearly 4 years now, I've found it to be worth so much to me in regards to my mental and emotional well being. Sometimes when we talk about being "healthy", it is mentioned only in respect to the physical aspect of being "ok". I've learned over the course of many years that being healthy in mind and spirit is equally important. From time to time I suffer from some mild depression and rather than take medicine (which I really hate to do anyways) I have learned that if I just write about something, share the feelings that I have, that I feel so much better. I remember the first time that I blogged about going through depression that I was nervous and afraid of what people would think. But I did it anyway. Within a day or so of publishing it to my blogpost site, I had emails from several friends thanking me for writing it. They too had gone through bouts of depression and were really glad to read of some of things I'd tried to do (sans medication) to overcome it.
My father died at age 59 (the age that I'm fast approaching in about a month) from lung cancer. My mother passed away at age 87, now 7 years ago come the 25th of this month. Her kidneys finally gave up and the congestive heart failure that she had endured for years before ended up becoming her demise. I never knew my grandfathers but my grandmothers were in my life for a long, long time. One passed at the age of 89 and the other, my Grandmother Brown, lived well into the winter of her 106th year. Longevity abounds on both sides. Would I like to live to see 100? It might be interesting. God only knows. His time will tell.
It's time for the day to begin here. Time for another antibiotic and a glass of the stuff that I hate. Water. Each day of life given to any of us is a gift. So for whatever time remains here for me, be it a year or thirty, I try to do the best I can in taking care of it. My friends and family, I wish for good health for all of you as well. Take care of yourselves, both in body and mind. You deserve a great life each day. Peace be yours.
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