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The upside of fevers

· 3 min read

COVID = no joke​

Let me be clear: COVID has not been fun and I'm not making light of it in any way. The Mrs. was exhausted - hibernating under covers for most of the daylight hours. She got exhausted from even a short walk around the kitchen. Also, I know this illness hits people in strange ways - and for long periods of time - with a potpourri of symptoms and complications. That part still freaks me out.

Fevers can be fun?​

But (and maybe I'm going to curse myself by writing this) one good side effect for me has been this constant light fever that I can tell is making my heart race juuuuuuust a little bit. The reason I consider this a good thing is it has kind of put me in this mellow, chill state of mind even though my body feels like literal hot trash. I've found myself feeling optimistic and thankful, which isn't crazy out of the ordinary or anything, but often when my mind is in neutral it says things like, "Hey, mind if I bring up this memory from 15+ years ago where you really hurt the feelings of someone you haven't seen since and probably hasn't thought of you since? ROLL THE TAPE IN HD PLEASE!"

Just call me Tony Robbins Jr.​

I get super easily annoyed at those overly peppy, "Go get the world by the tail!" life coach types, and I hate to say this but...I kind of feel like one of those today! I'm sure I will come to my senses tomorrow, but in the meantime I wanted to share an exercise I learned from (checks notes for source...and can't find source) about simple ways to get a tiny mood boost - and that is by regularly, either written or verbally, rattle off a freestyle list of things you are thankful for. Then end each one with "I'm thankful for that." That's it. No matter how small, simple or funny. Just do it. Here's one I started today:

  • Both my eyes work. I'm thankful for that.

  • I breathe without assistance from a machine. I'm thankful for that.

  • Outside of, you know, COVID, our family has been very healthy. I'm thankful for that.

  • My legs and arms work great. I'm thankful for that.

  • We have good jobs that provide food and school and clothes and shelter for our boys. I'm thankful for that.

  • We've got a neighbor who is like another dad to us and another grandpa to our sons. I'm thankful for that.

  • I got to celebrate Christmas with a ton of great friends and family. I'm thankful for that.

  • A situation that looked like it was going in the toilet today completely turned itself around at the last second. I'm thankful for that.

  • ...and so on and so on...

From the "nobody cares" dept.​

Like I said yesterday, I promised myself I'd log my food intake for a bit in the new year - just to hold myself accountable and try to drop some poundage. Pretty proud of the list below, but can pretty much blame (thank?) COVID for my screwed up taste buds:

  • Mint hot cocoa (yes, I'm addicted, mom. Back off.)

  • Mountain Dew (yes, I said I'd stop Dews in the near year and I didn't mom. Back off.)

  • Bag of trail mix

  • Chicken noodle soup

  • 1 piece of toast

  • 1 apple

  • 1 cheese stick