A bitter pill to swallow

Alright already.

Bite the bullet already.

The best way through is through. Better to die while trying than to not try at all? Better to miss the boat and splash around aimlessly and hopelessly in a puddle of own tears?

The elephant in the room waits with patience for the well being of all earthly inhabitants…..on land and sea, in tropical forests and jungles of all the world. Desert plains and mountainous scenes of awesome.

While navigating treacherous waters, a lot depends, of course, on the side of the boat where the bad weather is blowing. Sunshine and vitamin D go hand in hand with health we have been versed to believe by many a physician and well-being experts.

At certain times of life, we darn feel like we are speaking a different language. What with jargon replacing common sense and constant appeals for understanding.

When we feel not great, it is common to want to hide away from the forces that may be making us sick in the first place.

It is easy to miss the obvious and tangible resources all around us exist that can alter our moods and bodies.

The sun.

The moon.

The wind.

The cold.

The hot.

Etcetera, etcetera.

Yes. It is allergies? No. It is just allergies?

Certain “bugs” transmit more in cold weather. The darn buggers. Achoooooo! Crackling cough. Achooooooo!

Yes. Health hides in the barometric pressure of the high/low temperature and the sunrise and sunset and there still is no cure for the common cold.

No matter how or who tries to push the envelope of IOU’s and payment due.

”I can feel it in my bones.” Is often a phrase uttered when extenuating the temperature rise and drop of the intensity of the windstorm or hurricane and is a last resort of screaming,

Ouch!

That hurts.

Knocks you for a loop even.

No one wants to believe the worst of person they put all their basket eggs into. We present a facade to the outside world, when avoiding rock bottom, when the bottom of the boat shows us the only way is,

Up.!

As in things are looking up! Hurray and finally. We are at our individual worst when we point the finger and finger point. Silly to admit we like the gossip of someone’s misfortune. ‘Cuz we are so much better and healthier and they are pathetic.

This under-the-weather-lie takes on a life of its own and proving who is wrong becomes an attempt in playing ping pong without a paddle. The dog is over cowering in the corner and heaving legitimate feelings of its human’s confusion gone mad. The snow ball turns into a gargantuan boulder and rolls down the lane and heads towards the weakest. The smallest. The ones who do not care.

We do it to ourselves.

Others do it to others.

The wheels of injustice spin out of control.

So. We fake it. We forget. We stub a toe. We throw out our shoulders in attempts to take a break from it all. Afraid to admit we are not as strong as we thought we may be. We shrug our shoulders and “ripped” abs and fear all the gym time put in, in our world and this is it? We wonder why, after clocking years at the bar bells and pushups and sit ups, we still do not feel as good as we think we should.

So.

We blame it on the weather.

Our aches and pains, our failure to take care of one another.

When all else fails, and the conversation wanes, we seek to make small talk and what do we do?

Talk about the weather.

The weather takes the wrap. The weather withstands the bad wraps. It is way stronger than it is given credit for. Even the dog, on his sickest day, senses the relief coming in the winds of change.

So.

We fight what we can fight.

Like a bad cold.

No matter how or who started it, the dang virus still takes 7-10 days of recovery. Depending upon what else is blowin’ in the winds of your life, recovery may take a little longer.

No two people battle the battles the same way.

There are no shortcuts. The only way through is through. The only way to the true end of a common cold is to sneeze, cough and blow one’s nose through it. That is one reason why it is such a nemesis.

There is no cure for the common cold. And. Everyone gets one in their lifetime. No one is immune. The deck may be stacked against some more than others in the recovery department. In the end, it is a crap shoot.

Predicting it, prepares us for the weather and conditions to come. But only God knows what and who is really set to fall. He hand picks us to see what we are really made of. He hand picks us to see if we have what it takes while,

Riding the storm out.

He knows who can.

He knows who cannot.

He sees us when we are sleeping.

He knows we were are awake.

Awake.

To others that can use a strong shoulder to cry on and those who carry us on our shoulders when we feel lousy, crummy and

under the weather.

He and Mother Nature made a pact long ago to test the waters of our individual existences and decided never to give us more than we can handle. We are not better if we can handle more than someone, we are better if we gently teach others they can handle more than they think they can. Doubt is as bad as the common cold. It arrives before the symptoms do and then hangs around even if and when we feel stronger.

The weather around us and the wise old elephant remind us that we are never alone. The hardest part is asking for help. Articulation wanes when the heart is full of itself. Seems counterintuitive, but an open heart is actually a healthy one.

Riding the storm out.

Day by day.