Cough, Sneeze But Don’t Decide

Cough, Sneeze But Don’t Decide

May 05, 2022


One thing that truly annoys me about the bi-annual flu bugs is the complete and utter lack of respect.  


These micro-organisms have no sense civility, no compassion or understanding of schedules, life-rhythms and commitments.  


They decide to strike, ad hoc, at the most inopportune times.
How rude.

After a rare and delicious month of no travel, I embarked recently on a fairly lengthy speaking tour, with stops in five cities over then ten days.  


Wouldn’t you know it—on day one I caught the flu.

When the alarm beeped at 4:30 A.M., my head awoke in a fog of congestion, my eyes clouded by a sinus headache.  
Yuck!!!
I dozed in the taxi to the airport, napped on the short hop to Houston, passed out on the longer leg to Los Angeles.  
If I didn’t have to knock out a column, I would have slept all day.

I’ve learned over the years not to trust my decision-making process when I’m sick.  
Illness debilitates me, shakes my confidence, causes me to look at the dark side instead of the bright. 
I lose my sense of optimism and am prone to a mild case of depression.
Upon recovery, I see the fullness in the glass again.

Does that happen to you?  
Do you know yourself well enough to pay attention to when your systems go into partial shut down? 
If so, do you respect your humanity, remain disciplined enough to push off important decisions and ignore your dream stealers?

I’m not suggesting for a second that on occasion, despite how you feel and for whatever reason, you may have to plow forward.  I do that, too.  
The thought of canceling the trip never crossed my mind.  
Sometimes, we have to “gut it out.”

I’m talking about something a little different—the issue of self-respect.  
No one is at their best all day long, day-in, day-out. 
If you know your own make-up, you can choose the time and place to wrestle with the big stuff.  


You become better equipped to make sound judgments about significant issues.  
You can give yourself a break—well needed if it means that you’ll climb back into the saddle at full strength in a day or two.

A fellow speaker, Roger Crawford, often states:
“You’ll never be rich enough to afford pessimism.”
Indeed.  
Making decisions in a down-state leads to regrets:
“If only I had been thinking clearly…”

Don’t do it.
Respect yourself enough to know that 48 hours of recovery might save you years of other, far worse kinds of headaches.

After all, you’re worth it.


That’s A View From The Ridge…

Best-selling author, Ridgely Goldsborough has written 19 books to date, 5 on emotional intelligence and has developed a phenomenal program called CustomerConversionFormula.com that you can get absolutely free as a member of the Groove community. Also, visit Mind Types for a FREE and fun quiz that will give you a new perspective!