Recovering From an Illness

On the morning of last Wednesday, I felt elated after sharing over the internet a hymn I had composed and produced. I continued feeling joyful in the afternoon and well into the evening. And when I dashed to my hometown of Kiserian for a walk at 5.00pm that Wednesday, I could hardly conceal my joy. Those who saw me talk aloud to myself must have wondered what had sparked the excitement in me.

But something worrying happened when I came back home from the walk: I felt a soreness in my throat - the same kind of soreness I felt at the beginning of this year. Fearing that I could go down with an illness this time as I did at the start of the year, I approached God in prayer on Wednesday night, asking Him to heal whatever was wrong with my throat. Then I forgot about it.

I went about my business and retired to bed at around 9.20pm, secure in the knowledge that I would have a fantastic Thursday. And boy, wasn't I looking forward to reading Robin Sharma's Life Lessons From the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari which I bought on Tuesday when I travelled to Nairobi to produce the hymn I shared over the internet on Wednesday.

Come Thursday, I woke up at 6.30am as usual and went about my morning routine of making my bed, communing with God and reading the newspaper. And when breakfast was ready, I ate it but without my usual gusto. On finishing the breakfast, I felt out of sorts. Instead of reading Robin Sharma's Life Lessons From the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, I lay on the floor to rest a bit.

After lying on the floor for a minute or so, I thought it wise to lie on my bed. So I hopped into bed, first lying on the blanket before getting in between the sheets. I felt a fever as I lay in bed. Imagine I was in between the sheets, wearing a winter-coat, a pull-over, a polo-shirt and a T-shirt yet I was still feeling cold. My goodness, I had caught an illness!

Probably due to the comfort I was feeling while I lay in between the sheets, time flew by very fast. When I got out of bed to eat lunch which had been prepared by one of our farmhands, I took a few bites and then completely lost my appetite for food. I put my uneaten plate of food aside and jumped back into bed to continue resting.

I felt as sick as a dog when I got back into bed after lunch. In addition to having a fever, I also had a slight headache. My muscles were also aching, making me feel weak and frail. The illness made me skip playing the piano as I always do in the afternoon. And when evening came without getting any better, I also had to skip going for a walk to Kiserian.

In the early hours of the night on that Thursday, I informed my Dad that I was feeling under the weather. He gave me two tablets of Panadol to swallow with water and then phoned my brother Paddy, who is a doctor, to tell him I was unwell.

Paddy inquired from me how I was feeling. After I explained to him the symptoms of my illness, he asked me whether I had travelled, of which I told him I had gone to Nairobi on Tuesday. And when I apprised him that I had just taken two tablets of Panadol, he instructed me to phone him at 10.00pm of that Thursday night to update him on how I was getting along.

Twenty minutes or so after swallowing the Panadol tablets, I started to feel better. My appetite for food returned. I wolfed down my supper like a starved hyena, after which I went back to bed to continue resting. Regrettably, I didn't phone Paddy at 10.00pm as he had instructed me. I just drifted off to sleep and before I knew it, Friday morning arrived.

Well, I didn't spring out of bed at 6.30am on Friday as it is my habit. I overstayed in bed for about 40 minutes. But when I did get out of bed, I felt better after doing some chores in the house. By 10.30am, I felt well enough to begin reading Robin Sharma's Life Lessons From the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, the book I had intended to start devouring the previous day.

I continued reading the book well into the afternoon of Friday. Possibly because the book is inspiring and well-written, I felt energized as the day progressed. And when I felt full of life at some point later on in the day, I paused to utter a prayer of gratitude to God, thanking Him for restoring my health.

It's now Saturday afternoon as I write this story. After reflecting on that illess I had on Thursday - an illness similar to the one I had at the beginning of this year - I have gained two insights. First is that health is indeed the greatest gift. I now agree with Herophilus, the ancient Greek physician, that when health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot manifest, strength cannot fight, wealth becomes useless and intelligence cannot be applied.

The second insight I have gained from the illness is to never boast about the future since we never know what may happen tomorrow. On Wednesday night, I retired to bed eagerly looking forward to reading Robin Sharma's Life Lessons From the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, only to fall ill when Thursday reached. Truly, the tomorrow we anticipate can surprise us with unexpected challenges. It is therefore unwise of us to boast about the future, or about anything for that matter. We ought to remain humble and dependent on God.

**************************
NEW! NEW! NEW! If you missed my social media update three days ago, let me take this opportunity to inform you that I have produced a new hymn which is available in the videos' section of this blog. Just click on the "videos" link on the menu at the top of this blog to access the hymn.