If you haven't been reckless once in your life, cast the first stone. Honestly, I have gone through a great exercise to be able to decide which has been the time when my poor decisions have cost me highly. I could tell you about very personal things, like when I impulsively left Venezuela. Or something as banal as the times I have eaten things I shouldn't, and my lactose intolerance took over to remind me that dairy is not my thing. However, I've decided to share with you about the most recent gaffe I've made.
As a background, I am a person who has suffered from asthma and allergic rhinitis since I was a child. The latter is a chronic issue, which I have just managed to control, but it will always be with me. I must always take precautions, as a strong rhinitis attack can also trigger an asthma attack, which is pretty horrible. That's something I already know, and I usually take enough precautions, especially in this spring season, which is when I suffer the most, because of the pollen.
Lately, I have had to be much more careful than usual because, in addition to the spring, the volcano near the municipality where I live has been constantly exhaling ash. Which, of course, is very bad for respiratory health. So almost three weeks ago, when my little boy came home from school with a bit of mucus, I was about to panic. Allergy + flu was a sure ticket to a very bad time for me.
For several weeks, I had been careful, I didn't leave my facemask behind at all. That and my allergy medicine are the only things that help me to get through spring in a place with plants and flowers everywhere. So when my sick son arrived, I had had enough of using face masks for everything, but now I definitely had to be more careful, because I knew he would inevitably infect me. And that's exactly what happened. Less than a week after that Friday, I started to feel sick, first it started with general discomfort, and then it turned into one of my worst friends: the flu.
Have I told you I was sick and tired of taking extra care of myself because of allergies? Well, when the flu came, I decided (foolishly) that I wasn't going to let it affect my day-to-day life, I continued doing all my activities as usual, without resting. You may think “ah, that's what he did recklessly” and no my friends, maybe not resting while I was sick wasn't the best idea of all. However, where I really should have made a better decision was when it occurred to me, as sick as I was, to start cleaning the garage.
In my eagerness to prove to myself that the flu wasn't going to fuck me up, I decided that the best way to do it was to sweep, tidy up and shake out a place full of dust and volcanic ash. And it doesn't end there (of course it doesn't), as I impulsively set out to do it, I didn't wear a mask or anything to protect me from all that crap that I KNEW was going to affect me. Could I leave that task for someone else to do? Of course, I could. I could have also gone into the house for a mask (or two), but I didn't, I can't tell you why at this point, I guess I was just being foolish.
As you can imagine, I got really sick, luckily I was able to control the whole thing with medication and my trusty inhaler. But no medicine can take away the pain and the shock of feeling so bad. Of course, no one is more to blame than myself. I know how to take care of myself, but I decided to ignore my own logic, and I am still paying the consequences of that recklessness. That happened about two weeks ago, my son and the others who also got sick with the virus he brought home have been cured for more than a week now, and they all got over the illness as if it had given them nothing, except for me.
To this day, I still feel pretty sick. And now it's not just something that has affected me physically, but also emotionally. I'm a little upset about it all. If I go on like this, it will be three weeks of being in this shitty sickness, so you can imagine that I feel like I'm going to go crazy. All because I decided to ignore the care I already know I should take. So, I'll just put up with it, because it was my screw-up and nobody else's.
I'm sorry for all the cursing, it's just that I'm mad at myself for putting me in this situation.
This has been my participation for the #weekend-engagement. WEEK 146, on the theme When you knew better.
Happy weekend to all of you.
Thank you very much for reading, see you in the comments
