Fractionally Sick (1 of 2)

I allow myself to get sick once a year.

Really.  I say that as though I am in control of the whole sickness-thing, and, frankly, I think that, to some degree, I am.  Sometimes.

I first discovered this back in law school.  I was feeling something icky coming on, but the timing was really bad, so I just drank massive quantities of orange juice in an effort to pee out the germies.  (Yes, I know, my knowledge of technical medical terms is a marvel.)  I was in an all-day seminar at the time, and we had a break every hour.  So every hour, I'd run to the restroom, then run to the cafeteria for another bottle of OJ.  Next day, the germies were gone.  I'd put up a fight and they'd run away scared. 

I realized in later years that, while you can postpone a cold by scaring it off with fluids and medicine and getting a good night's sleep and all that other stuff, you can't keep doing it indefinitely.  EVENTUALLY, the damn thing is going to come back at you all full-strength, with no time to fight.  I mean, if you go to sleep all healthy and wake up the next day with a sore throat and feeling like poo warmed over -- well, then, you're sick, congratulations.  Deal with it.

So, basically, I've decided to allow myself to be sick once a year, and to fight it most other times.