Defeating the Control Freak...Or Something

(Before I start, some shameless self-promotion here, but on the right side of my blog page I've been working on two sets of top-ten lists, one for North Dakotans, and another for races on North Dakota soil. Feel free to check them out and throw any names my way if I've missed people. Thanks!)

I'm a control freak. I have a consistent schedule in the back of my mind, and if anything unexpected pops up, I...well, freak out. The best example I can give is dentist appointments. Now, we all know that there is no convenient time for a trip to the dentist, but yet there they are on the calendar every year (or every 6 months, or every 5 minutes, I don't tell you how to live your life). For me personally, this means that every December, upon finishing the grueling fall semester and returning home for a couple weeks of doing absolutely nothing school-related, I am reminded of a visit to my favorite gum-stabber, usually at some early-morning time that I scheduled 370 days earlier and promptly forgot about. This can send me into a frenzy, anger me, and make me say things I normally regret to people who don't deserve it. It was the same high school. I don't transition easily.

It might not come to anybody's surprise, then, that I am currently stressed about about the fact that I have a cold. Now, to many people I know, getting a cold would not warrant a blog post, but for a control freak who has taken care to not get even a little bit sick any time in the last 398 days, AND for a distance runner who happened to have a track workout scheduled the same day and will now have to miss it, it sucks. Sickness is right up there with the Yankees, the cost of university textbooks, mosquitoes, and right-handed scissors as some of the worst things you will happen across. Believe it or not, getting sick is not part of my plan, but of course neither is leaving homework at home, my car not starting, or eating peanut butter by the spoonful because I can't control myself. My main point is that things come up that we have no control over, and if we stress over things we can't control, we are probably in for ulcers by the time we are 37 years old. It might be cliche, but don't fret over the things you can't control.

I did.

In high school, I seemed to get sick during the last week of October and the first week of November every year. EVERY SINGLE ********** YEAR. In college, this unfortunately coincided with conference XC. My freshman year, two days before conference cross country, I felt that familiar tingling in my throat, and I knew exactly where I was headed; needless to say, I had arguably the worst race of my life two days later (*shudders*). My sophomore year, two days before conference cross country, I felt it again. I can now say that flying in an airplane, driving from 1000ft to 7000ft altitude, and racing an 8k at high elevation while having a sinus-stuffing cold is not something I would ever recommend (*shudders*). Going into the week of conference XC my junior year, I could feel my body getting run down AGAIN, but I fought it off through neglect of studies diligent sleep and some luck. Every single time, I would sit and worry and stress, hoping and praying I could avoid the inevitable, but more often than not, it would come. I've since come to terms with it. Sickness will come and go, and even though for a little while it's not fun at all, that's life. Deal with it and move on, or be a debby-downer to everybody around (apologies to anybody named Debby who may be reading this- I'm sure you're a wonderful person!) Be uplifting at all times, sickness included.

Want to know something I don't do when I'm sick? Stuff myself with medication. I honestly detest how medicated we are as a society. We are too clean, too medicated, and too insulated. The big push nowadays is to buy everything 'natural' (whatever that means). Want to know what is not 'natural'? Hand sanitizer, vitamin C pills and packets, taking two showers a day and thoroughly scrubbing your hands with soap 8 times a day, and medicating yourself through sickness. Through this cold, I am being assisted by a roll of toliet paper (too lazy to go buy tissues) and oranges. I will not take cold medicine, cough drops, or anything of the like. When I'm sore, I don't pump myself full of ibuprofen. When I get a little headache, I don't take Tylenol, I drink more water. I'm not a doctor, but I honestly believe one of our problems in America is that we have managed to make our lives so clean that it's affecting our health negatively. OH MY GOSH I SWEATED A LITTLE I NEED TO SHOWER or BETTER PUT ON HAND SANITIZER BECAUSE I'LL BE SHAKING SOMEBODY'S HAND SOON really bother me. At the summer camp I work at, I don't shower every day. Yeah, I get pretty dirty, but that's a lot more natural than being squeaky clean all the time.

What exactly am I trying to get at with this post? I don't know. What I do know is this-

1.) Being sick sucks. No way around it.
2.) I try every day to let things in my life happen and not worry too much about control.
3.) #2 doesn't always work as well as I hope for.
4.) In the event of #3, prayer is always helpful.
5.) We over-medicate everything.
6.) I despise #5.
7.) This is my favorite number.
8.) The worst part about colds is that I can't taste my food. I love food.
9.) I didn't want to end this on an even number.

So there ya have it. Sleep well, eat well, and be ready to get sick, because nobody is immune. As for today, I have "Travels With Charley" by John Steinbeck to crush and a couch that needs some attention. Peace Out.