When I can not run, I allow myself the human luxury of what I can only compare to mentally imploding.  I know part of it is what goes on in my head, and the other part is my withdrawal from all the lovely happy hormones I have gotten so accustomed to producing on a regular, nearly daily basis.  I am again writing about illness.  Not because I enjoy dwelling in one of the less-inspiring aspects of being alive, but because so much can be learned and drawn during a bout with illness.

One of the advantages to being sick is all the time in bed - I have been in bed for so long, I can't wait to get up and stay up.  Sleeping in no longer appeals to me.  I am eating carbs like nobody's business because protein is too heavy in my stomach.  I have eaten over half a dozen bowls of noodle soup with rice and crackers.  All the things that are not part of "normalcy" become "normal" for a time during period of recovery.  I know I do whatever I can to make myself heal more quickly.  I do what it takes because I am desperate to feel better.

This entry is not meant to be an esoteric approach on how to survive a sinus infection, because I know that people live through much more.  I have seen the faces of progress. Seemingly everyday humans who possess superhuman resilience.  If I have not seen their faces, I have at least heard some of their stories.

It is a humbling and awe-inspiring privilege to watch a person thrive amidst illness.

I have a friend

...who was recently diagnosed with cancer, had the operation, and is now cancer-free.

...who is struggling with depression, and she is fighting it, tooth and nail.  She is doing so without medication and very little therapy.

...who lives with chronic pain, like millions of others, who is one of the strongest people I know.

...who is un-learning a lifetime's worth of unhealthy behavior, and is now living the life she has always wanted.

...who can never get better and no one can seem to figure out what the problem is.

All these people I know, and many more whose names I shall never know, are miracles. They are living inspiration who refuse to allow their physiological state to define them. From them I draw strength.

As I suffer through this nuisance of a cold, I would not dare complain - I simply watch those around me...inspired to be a witness to human greatness.





       

Every few generations, a person comes along who completely annihilates the way in which people operate by making the world a more interesting place to live.  There was Edison, Graham-Bell, Ford, Lincoln (William - invented film), and Jobs.

Steve Jobs passed away yesterday, at the age of fifty-six years young.  However, he will be immortalized by the innovation that is synonymous with his name.  His impact upon the relationship between humans and technology is one that has completely shattered the precepts which existed prior to his inventions.  Steve had the instinctive methodology that took a concept, or an item, and brought it to such a heightened level of sophisticated simplicity that makes nearly all things possible.  The driving force behind his ingenuity was simply his love for the work he set out to accomplish.  I am sure that every man and woman who purchase one of the many Apple devices feel the wonder they felt when they were children on Christmas morning when they first begin playing with it.

I think the collective sadness that has followed Steve Jobs' death is one that carries a tone of yearning.  Wondering how much more could he have contributed?  What more could he have imagined?  What other elements of daily life could he have upgraded, in the way only he knew how.

For as long as I live, I will at the very least own and cherish an iPod.  The one I have now is a second generation, nearly five years old, and I use it to make the most mundane tasks more exciting.  My iPod is now more than just an MP4 player.  It is a daily reminder that one day, I too will be leaving this earth, and I will live only through the legacy I leave behind.  I will in no way, shape, nor form leave a fraction of the impact as Mr. Jobs has.  Although I believe that in the very least, so long as I, "think outside the box," and I, "never settle," I will function to the best of my ability due to the sheer joy with which I accomplish my goals.  

Thank you, Steve Jobs, for the inspiration and the advice.

Because of you, I will

"Stay hungry, stay foolish."