Health or The Real Housewives? Decisions, Decisions...

So I may be getting sick. I've got that almost-but-not-quite-fully-developed itchy throat, coughing, stuffy head thing going on. It's at the critical turning point where more then likely I will wake up tomorrow with either a full-blown head cold or it will have gone away. 

The thing is, I know my body and I have some control over which direction this goes. In the last 6 years (which is exactly when I started running), I've been sick for perhaps three days.  Caught a cold a year or two ago and it took me down. Other than that, I've been at where I am now... almost sick but never really crossing the line. The difference--and I know it sounds odd--is that I can make the mental decision whether to allow myself to be sick or not and my body almost always follows suit. 

The trick of it is, the decision is more unconscious then conscious. Naturally, on a conscious level I don't WANT to be sick. I've got deadlines! I've got cats! I've got a workout schedule and things to do! But...if there's a part of me that's thinking, "Wow. Being sick is the perfect excuse to stay in my jammies and lay on the couch with a blanket, sipping hot tea while watching Real Housewives reruns" (Which if you haven't done, try it. You'll thank me.), then there's a chance I'll tumble over the health cliff and allow a sniffle to blossom into a full-blown cold. 

I posted on Facebook that I wasn't feeling well. I love the responses. My hard core business friends are like, "Oh no! S**t! That's terrible. Hope you feel better!" You can see the wheels turning as they mentally calculate what a sick day would cost them in terms of productivity. 

Then there are my healing friends who are all, "Excellent! Your body is releasing toxins! Enjoy the molecular refurbishment!" 

I truly love both of these groups of friends dearly. 

Although I'm "fighting" the cold, I admit I'm a little worried. The nice thing about being sick is that, miserable as you may feel, it's still like a mini-vacation. People are understanding if you don't answer e-mails, return calls, work on your book. You're sick! You need to rest! Listen to your body and just sleep for 16 hours. Snot nose or not, it's sounding lovely...

On the other hand, Blair and I are heading to the beach soon and I do NOT want to be sick for that. My body may listen to me when I say, "No getting sick right now," but once I AM sick, it refuses to listen to a word I say. If it decides to be sick for a week, there's little I can do about it. 

So, in an effort to appease everyone, I'm going to go lie on the couch for the rest of the night and watch bad TV while I drink chamomile tea. Maybe a bit of pampering is all I need for this headache/stuffy head thing to go away. 

Time is ticking away. Place your bets.

Cheers,

Dena