Day 212: The Unsurprising Surprise

The one thing that will never cease to surprise me: How surprised I am to rediscover the foundational importance of physical health.

Thanks to my body’s newfound inability to handle pollen, I was reduced to a zombie state where my thoughts faded in and out of a cloud of confusion (I understand why pharmaceutical companies spend so much money advertising antihistamines — allergy symptoms are insufferable), I had my first day off in quite a while. For most the entire day, I wafted between sleep and reading Ted Chiang’s short stories (my favorites: Understand, Liking What You See: A Documentary, and The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate).

It’s certainly frustrating to have my body rebel like a petulant child and refuse to cooperate, but hey, it is what it is, and I’ll try to make the best of it. One of my favorite quotes since high school is relevant here:

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”
- Randy Pausch