It’s interesting to hear people lament the hazards of cold and flu season. To resign themselves to the fact that falling ill is inevitable. That all those bugs are just out to get them.
I recently read a linked article on Facebook written by a mom who was incredulous that someone’s sick kids were sent to school to intermingle with her own children. True to form, her kids got sick, and subsequently so did she and her husband. So now she’s imploring anyone who is sick to “stay the f*@! home.” She says that sending an infected person out into the general public is like “sending your kindergartener into show-and-tell with a loaded weapon.” If you want to check out the original article, you can do so here.
While I can sympathize with her situation, her logic is as crude as her language. Her kid didn’t get sick because another sick child came to school. Her kid got sick because his immune system wasn’t strong enough to fight off the virus. If it were as cut and dry as fully laying the blame for our illness on bacteria and viruses, we would all be bed-ridden. I guarantee that other children were exposed to the exact same bugs that her kid was that day. I would also venture to guess that not every exposed child went home sick. You would be hard pressed to find a door knob or shopping cart handle free of the cold virus. But the odds of you getting sick from touching these objects depends on how well you’ve been taking care of yourself.
You see, it’s not the bug’s fault. Bugs are going to do what bugs do. You can’t blame them. Viruses need a host. If they find a weak one, they can wreak some havoc. However, they’ll have a difficult time spoiling the party if they take up residence in a strong, resilient body. Now I’m not suggesting that getting sick implies that you are weak. But it does indicate that you had a weak moment.
Before you get the wrong idea, I’m not advocating that you purposely spread your germs with no regard whatsoever for the well-being of those around you. But what I am suggesting is that you reexamine your thinking about why it is that we get sick. Perhaps rather than wasting energy bemoaning the vomiting classmate, we would be better served investing that time into building up our own immune systems. Marketing tells us that we would be wasting our time. Don’t believe it. Not only are flu shots grossly ineffective at fending off the flu, but it can be argued that every jab of the needle weakens not only your body, but also your resolve. In the grand scheme of things getting the flu is largely inconsequential. The greater danger is cultivating a reckless disregard for the wisdom ingrained in your genetic blueprint and in the slow surrender of control of your own health.
Be Your Best,
