Something unusual happened to me recently: I got really, really sick.
I came home from training camp with a cold. It seemed like the same kind of cold that I get roughly once a year. It started with a sore throat, then moved through my respiratory system, bringing me a runny nose and a cough.
Instead of petering out through the course of the week, though, this cold kept getting worse. It attacked my sinuses with a vengeance. I’ve felt sinus pressure before, but nothing like this. Everything above my shoulders severely ached, and I felt like I might pass out every time I stood up.
Finally, on day eight of my illness, I wound up at the doctor’s office. I was diagnosed with acute sinusitis and prescribed a ten-day course of antibiotics and some heavy duty cough syrup. I came home with hope that the end was in sight. I then proceeded to feel even worse.
I have a friend who likes to remind me whenever I complain, that the cause of my complaint is just a light momentary affliction (II Corinthians 4:17). It’s hard to argue with her, since she got that from the Bible. Anyway, I received this reminder again on one of the days when I felt the worst, and I responded with, “I know, but it’s amazing how long the moments feel when you’re in the middle of them.”
I won’t belabor the point of how terrible I felt at the peak of this sinusitis thing. Everyone’s been sick before, so everyone knows what it feels like when you’re so miserable that you start wondering just exactly how hard you’d have to hit your head to knock yourself unconscious and put yourself out of your misery for a while. (On second thought, maybe that’s just me…) That light moment of affliction can become pretty consuming.
I noticed something interesting, though, once the antibiotics kicked in and I started feeling better. It had only been about a day since the absolute worst point of my sickness, but I almost couldn’t remember how miserable I’d been. I was still coughing and blowing astonishing things out of my sinuses, but I felt pretty much fine otherwise. Thinking back to the awful suffering of the days before was kind of like thinking back to getting my wisdom teeth out ten years ago – I remember that it happened and that it wasn’t enjoyable, but there are no painful feelings still associated with it.
This reminded me immediately of a thought I’d had at training camp. We heard tons of stories from alumni racers while we were there – hilarious, painful, awesome stories. I remembered thinking that sometimes the best stories to tell came out of the moments that were the worst to live. I wondered what sort of moments I’d live through next year that would turn into my favorite stories.
Other than reminding me of training camp stories, recovering from being sick was a good reminder to persevere through the hard times. They really are shorter than you think, no matter how endless they might seem when you’re in the middle of them!
More thoughts on affliction coming up in Part Two – I know you’re on the edge of your seat. And I promise I won’t spend another 400 words talking about having a cold.
