Colds

“The first wealth is health,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson.

You can say that again.

After not catching a cold for years and years, I have had two (this is my second) in one month.

How did this happen? True, my friends have had colds, and my husband and daughter are just getting over colds, but I have been surrounded by sick people every winter, not just this one, and have not gotten sick. At the first sign of a cold, whether it be my own or someone else’s, I took my Airborne and never gave it another thought.

Needless to say, this is not working this winter. (Hmmmm, I wonder if they’ve changed the formulation of Airborne…note to self: check on this!).

Okay, to be honest, the other thing that’s different this winter is that I am not religiously exercising at least 3 times a week as I have during winters gone by.Why not? That’s easy: I just don’t feel like it. In fairness to me, though, it’s also because a lot of the “found time” I’ve used for writing used to be carved out for exercising. Oh, and I’m eating small baked goods (read: sugar) way more often than I was last year. There is a school of thought that says sugar (in addition to feeding one’s soul) feeds one’s germs…

If your best efforts (Airborne, extra Vitamin C, good ol’ fashioned careful hand washing, and not touching your face)  fail to ward off that cold, what do you do? Besides suffer, I mean.

1. Chicken soup.
2. Tea with honey (oh heck, even just the honey! A nice, big tablespoon of it!).
3. Rest in bed (or on the couch) under the comfy blanket with your best pillow (and biggest box of Kleenex).
4. Okay, who are we kidding? You know that you’re going to end up having to go to work. Get up as late as you can and get back in bad as soon as you can.
5. Try not to annoy the fam with your coughing (read: try not to be annoyed with the unsympathetic fam).
6. Use cough drops, DayQuil, NyQuil (save money! buy generic!)…whatever makes you feel better.

Remember that “This too shall pass”. Even if it doesn’t feel like it will anytime soon.