Getting healthy and fit in real time, in real life…

I, like many other people ended up catching whatever was going around this week. I also left work early Friday afternoon and I stayed home sick on Monday and Tuesday. That was a huge deal for me as I normally don’t take any time off work. There is always too much to do and I usually end up staying home and worrying about all the things that are piling up on my desk. This time, I tuned out work and forced myself to get the rest that I needed.

Normally, when I push through and force myself to work while I’m sick, I end up making myself even more sicker. I remember someone telling me once (or many, many times) that the reason why my colds stuck around so long was because I refused to get any rest. This time I was lying flat on my back underneath several covers, drinking lots and lots of fluids.

My body was thankful for it.

Also, I’m sure that my co-workers were happy about me staying home too as I was pretty much a wheezy, phlegmy mess (yuck!).

Fall = Dark + Cold + Wet. ≠ desire for outdoor exercise + flat tires on bicycle = “end-of-  commuting-to-work-by-bicycle” season. 

I could see my bicycle commuting season coming to an end last week as the temperature in the mornings got below my comfort level.  The changes in weather happen every year about this time but I find it uncanny that so often the last straw is getting repeated flat tires. Seems to happen every year.  This is very annoying as I try to squeeze out the last days of fair weather commuting – even a couple of days a week would satisfy me:  I’d be taking advantage of our fine autumn weather, getting some exercise and saving enough to justify my Starbuck’s habit.   But after two flat tires this week I am resigned to take public transit to work.

  I’m fortunate to have the transit routes available that limit my commute to about 25 minutes.  For this I should be grateful, even if it means commuting in vehicles exquisitely designed as incubators for every transmissible germ known to mankind. If I were paranoid about H1N1, I’d avoid the bus system altogether!  Think about it the next time you are standing on the bus. : the lack of normal ‘interpersonal space’ that might apply to casual encounters certainly benefits the transmission of air borne disease.  And think about the bars that you have to hang on to or the plastic handles designed for all primates to swing on. Relax into the nice warm, humid environment and contemplate how you might design a better means of spreading communicable diseases.  It would be difficult.   But perhaps there are health benefits to riding the bus: the exposure to the ‘germ-of-the-day’ that keeps the immune system on its toes.  Perhaps one day they will name a flu bug after transit riders.

I could devote an entire session to a rant on public transport- and perhaps I will- but I will have a break next week. I’m off to scuba dive in the islands north of Port Hardy.

Yeah, it will be dark, cold and definitely wet- but at least I won’t have to contend with a flat tire!

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What is happening to this world right now!?

I’ve been feeling pretty negative lately, for reasons a-plenty.  It’s not like me though- I’m usually described as upbeat and positive.  When I do a brief scan of my colleagues’  blog entries (no offense friends!) and a general census of people at meetings, events etc, I get a sense that everyone’s really down lately.  If there had been weeks of rain, I would kind of understand it… but we’ve had some nice sunny days recently.  So what is going on!?

I know I feel like I’m running on empty this week. I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel, honestly.  And I can list off some really really good reasons why, and I even have a killer headache (my first in a few months) right now. 

********************

Ok, I had just written the last few paragraphs, when I heard my colleagues Jolene and Steph talking in the hall.  So I popped my head out to say hello.  And they said, “come here and see this!”  And it turns out that our other colleague, brought in some jelly gummy spiders for us to enjoy. And someone put a sticky note on the jar that said “Are your hands clean?” [and there’s a hand sanitizer right in front of the jar].  So we all laugh together about this…and then Steph shows me her “Boys are Stupid” pen, and we laugh about this with another colleague…

The point is: while it may seem like we wasted five or ten minutes of our work day, it’s obvious to me that this is exactly what I needed.  My headache feels a little less overwhelming, my back is a little less aching, and I am SO GRATEFUL to work in a place that’s filled with people who want to connect with each other, laugh a little, and look out for one another.

And you know what? That’s also why I do my job: because I want more people to find the reinvigorating feeling of working in a place that’s about comraderie, respect and support.  Because that’s how I’m really going to be able to stay healthy.

Here’s some links for you and your amusement:

http://www.cartoondollemporium.com/games_girls.html?id=909

(sorry guys, but it’s funny!)

http://www.toothpastefordinner.com

(my favourite online comic strip- may be offensive to some- my apologies, but some of it’s hilarious!)

My Best Thing Today: Taking in that a program that I ran yesterday (Stand Up for Mental Health) touched the lives of about 300 people.  And taking time off this morning, since I worked so late at the evening show last night! [And now, those really yummy gummy spider moments shared with my colleagues!]

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