Waiting with winter

I'm a fairly healthy person.  Those that have known me since childhood (or have seen my list of surgeries or broken bones) may protest, but I consider myself to be in relatively good health, especially since I work in the school system, have a son in daycare, and am pretty well smothered by germs from every angle.  Sure, I get the occasional cold or flu, the odd headache, an itchy rash or two, but my yoga practice, stellar eating habits, non-smoking, rarely drinking, and need for eight-hours-of-sleep-or-I-am-a-zombie lifestyle are good preventative medicine. 

So, my Achilles heel?  STRESS.  I do too much.  WAY too much.  Some nice friends say I have "good time management skills."  Those that know me better are more inclined to realize that I am just WAY TOO optimistic about how much I can get done in the run of a day.  Work two jobs and go to grad school?  Sure.  Single mum?  No prob.  Read three books by tomorrow?  Lovely.  Knit a hat while I wait at the Dr.'s office?  Well, of course.  Watch a movie while folding laundry and making next year's Christmas presents?  What better way to spend two hours!  Why not do sit-ups while I'm at it? 

The truth is: I am delusional.  I really, truly, heartfully believe that I can accomplish all these things (and MORE!....I should get chickens!  Bake my own bread!  Sew a dress tonight!) and not burn myself out.  And frankly, most of the time, I succeed in pulling the wool over my own eyes (while my poor friends and family watch from a distance waiting for me to run into a brick wall from my blindness).  My confidence in my own abilities sometimes outweighs my own actual, you know...HUMANNESS.  What's that you say?  I'm not Superwoman?  Pish tosh.  My self-righteousness will not even ALLOW me to grace that with a reply.

And then, I get sick.  A first, a little sick.  A cold.  A cough.  A sore throat.  A bladder infection.  A fever.  Intense and prolonged fatigue.  Oh, maybe I cracked some ribs there from coughing too hard for the last two weeks.  Oh, I can still teach yoga class tonight...I'll just "take it easy."  Oh, I guess I should take a couple days off work and rest up.  I can still work on my grad school assignments on the couch and knit a few things and scrub the toilets...gently.  Oh, gosh, my ribs are really really painful and I can't sleep and I can't stop sweating and I vomit when I cough too hard.  Oh, what's that Doctor?  Oh, pneumonia.  That's kinda bad right?  I'm not going to be able to attend ASIST training this week or teach Ashtanga?  Oh, bed rest.  Perfect.  I totally LOVE sitting still.

And so, life wins.  I am human after all, it appears.  Dang. 

Please don't tell anyone.