Return From The Plague, Thanksgiving

What a great way to spend a holiday -- 102 degree fever T-day, 101 Friday, finally broke Sat ... now just hacky chest cough, back to like "90% capability" and working out again since yesterday. I do believe that I notice that I don't bounce back quite as quickly at 58 as I once did -- nah, must be my imagination!

When I worked, I might have said "at least it happened while I was off so I'm not behind at work". The vast majority of my IBM career was like that -- 100ish e-mails a day, documents to review by dates, plans, schedules, status, architecture, presentations, approvals, issues .... Yes, in the early years there was actual code and testing, ah for the good old days.

I'd say I look forward to holidays more now -- chance to get together with people. I don't exactly lack  for human contact, but not so much the overload that one experienced when leading teams of 20+ and at times as many as 60 people ... and of course interacting with lots of others in various capacities. People invigorate me, there are days now that I can miss that a little.

Not a lot one can do about scheduling flu. I've gotten the flu shot for over decade, didn't get it before that. Think the only previous time I had flu this severe and long lasting was just after finals in one of my college years when I was down for close to a week. I'm sure it is an odds game -- supposedly they pick the "most likely" viruses, so statistics say that it "improves your odds" ... lots like various other things, when the sample is YOU, statistics don't really mean a lot!

It is a good chance to reflect on how bad it can feel to be human, and how little we actually control, though some of us love to fancy it otherwise. Good time for a little prayer that I avoid having a longer term illness as debilitating or worse, and the chance to appreciate how hard life can be for those who do.

Naturally, the little I felt like it during a lot of it, but more as I perked up, I read. Somewhere -- my brain wasn't on it's full correlation / recall mode, I hit "the 3 things needed for happiness". According to whatever I was reading it was 1) Meaning 2) Purpose 3) Hope.

Not a bad trio ... I can tell you that with a 102 fever, all three were pretty much a "don't care", but Hope! Reading that reminded me of a favorite passage though, I Corinthians 13: 12-13

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face;
Now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.
But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Even when we are feeling superb by our earthly standards, we are extremely sick by heavenly standards. Even when we think we have locked some piece of knowledge, technology or skill down cold, we are but barely dimly aware from a Godlike view. For me, the promise that I will FINALLY "know fully" is especially precious.

For today, I'm very thankful for the small measure of health and mental clarity allowed in this vale of tears! 

Happy belated Thanksgiving.