Work through it

Between airborne allergies and a viral infection I recently picked up, I've not been feeling up to snuff the last few days. But the words of my former shihan (Martial-arts school principal) have inspired me to action. Shihan Joel, you see, is diabetic, so whatever minor sniffles I have are nothing compared to what he must go through. So one day, several months ago at the beginning of a workout, Shihan came out to lead the class, and mentioned that he was feeling a bit ill, and he might not join us for all of the exercises. He was definitely dragging, and looking pale.

And yet, join us he did--and as the hour went on, he seemed to get stronger and by the end, he said he was feeling great. "Sometimes if you're feeling under the weather, it's better to just work through it," he told us. And there he was, looking energetic and back to his normal cheery self--proof of concept.

So today, I woke up with a full-blown head cold, dragged myself out of bed, and with Shihan's words ringing in my ears, took a slightly shorter than usual walk--40 minutes instead of an hour. I'd like to say that I came back full of energy, but the truth is, I didn't eat much of a breakfast and towards the end of the walk I felt my blood sugar level had dropped and was a bit dizzy. So I got home, had something to eat...and suddenly my energy came back! I'm still sniffly, but overall feeling better than I did when I woke up.

Moral? Walk through it.