pain, sweet pain
There's nothing like pain to make you rethink your general attitude about life.
I recall being seriously sick while in China, years ago, and realizing that despite the utter agony of not being able to eat for three days because you can't swallow because your throat is so swollen it's almost closed off, I had a pretty good sense of humor about it. I have a journal of my "conversations" with my traveling companion (that's a whole other story) during my sick days since I couldn't talk because I had no voice. They're hilarious, to be sure, but what's more striking about them to me is that I noted my conscious, concerted effort at that time to overcome a sour attitude that had emerged because all my "plans" had been thwarted by this mysterious illness. (To this day, I don't know what I had. I just know that it was serious enough to go the hospital for a few days and be hooked up to an IV with doctors standing above me saying things that I totally did not understand. Again, a story for another day.) But through prayer and the efforts of a loving friend, it was easy for me to make the choice to be positive and optimistic rather than annoyed or annoying, for that matter.
Today, I have a similar choice to make. My stomach has been hurting for the past 24 hours, and I have a picnic to attend today. You know, picnic food, fireworks, socializing - FUN! But all I want to do at the moment is ease the pain. I have realized that it's very easy for me to become whiny, a quality I find annoying in others, but just as easy to be pleasant. I'm choosing pleasant for the sake of those around me. And it feels more right because I think it reflects who I am more accurately.
Yay me!
So here's the corollary issue - when people ask you how you are doing, should you be honest ("I'm doing ok for the most part, but I haven't been feeling well lately") which might lead to a more in-depth conversation about stomach pain, or should you keep it social but superficial ("I'm great - how are you?")? I mean, do people really want to know how you are, with all the gory details and all, or are they just being polite? I tend to opt for honesty, but I am not sure the people around me can handle it all the time. Too bad for them, I suppose. Heh, heh.