In Sickness and in Health
I’m sick. I don’t have the flu thank goodness, but I do have sinus stuff that has now led to my throat being sore and a lot of coughing and nose blowing (I think the “sickness and health” part is in the wedding thing because if you can stay married when one of you is sick, then you’re probably going to make it.) I didn’t really feel like writing a musing, but then I thought about something.
I take so much for granted.
Like my health. For over 50, I am in fairly good shape really. I can do most everything I want to, hopefully including running the 18th Memorial Marathon this April. I sleep well, eat pretty much whatever I want, and have very few complaints. When I am sick, I have access to medicine that may not cure me but certainly reduces my symptoms and speeds my body’s ability to heal itself. Many people are not so fortunate and in most cases, they are not directly responsible for their misfortune, nor am I directly responsible for my good fortune.
Before you email me and tell me how the way we live and eat and work impacts our health, I know. We can marginally improve or maximize the advantage we have and we can marginally mitigate and minimize the disadvantages, but we are not in control of so many things. 2017 was a great year for Kimray. Fantastic margins, high EBITDA, great bonuses. Each person at Kimray played a part in making the most of the resources we have and the sales we have. But none of us had anything to do with the industry coming back. We are just fortunate it did.
The point here is not to take anything away from us—we hit it out of the park—but to add something to us. We were fortunate to be in the park. We got pitched to over the plate. We were in the game. For those things and others too numerous to count we should be grateful. When things are not so great, we should still be grateful, because we have so much opportunity.
I tend to not notice being well. If I recover from this, I am going to try to remember how much I wish to be well and let that memory remind me to be grateful every day for all the things I am blessed with. We enjoyed 2017, and 2018 should be another healthy year, but let us not forget what it feels like to be sick, so we can be grateful for the blessing of health.