Illness can be reminder of our mortality
I don't do "sick" well.
Probably part of it is that I enjoy living life as fully as I can and being sick gets in the way of all the things I like to do.
Of course, it may also be because I tend to over-schedule myself at times. A sick day can throw a huge monkey wrench into my previously planned hectic week and leave me scrambling to repair the damage for weeks to come.
The other day I realized there is yet another reason I resent being ill. Not to sound morbid (which I have sometimes been accused of), but it seems to me that sickness is a subtle, or not too subtle, reminder of my own mortality.
Illness makes a statement I'd rather not hear. It says to me "Ken, you can pretend you've got forever, but don't fool yourself. Like it or not, you will run out of time, energy, and eventually life. And here's a little taste of what it's like."
OK, so maybe that is morbid but, for me at least, it's true. And the older I get the harder it is for me to ignore such messages.
When I was in my teens, or 20s, or even 30s, I could often stubbornly will my way through just about any bug or bacteria that got in my way. That's not true anymore. Like it or not, when I'm sick now I have to sit up and take notice (or maybe that's lie down and take notice ...).
On the other hand, perhaps there is some value in listening more closely to the message in my physical ills. If I am reminded every now and then that life is, in fact, a limited resource, perhaps I will get a little better at using it.
If I don't have time enough to do everything, maybe I will make better choices about what things I will do.
If this body of mine is just not what it used to be, it might be a good idea to take a bit better care of it. You get the idea.
Now, I'm not saying that I'm going to welcome the next cold, flu, or whatever that comes my way. Nor am I going to get particularly ecstatic about any of the other reminders of life's limits that I receive. I've just decided I'd better listen to them.
By the way, did I tell you about this pain in my knee …?
• Dr. Ken Potts is on the staff of Samaritan Counseling Center in Naperville and Downers Grove. He is the author of "Mix Don't Blend: A Guide to Dating, Engagement and Remarriage With Children."