Someone asked me last week how my ears were, as they were troubling me the last time we had worked together.
I just looked at him, baffled. I had no idea what he was talking about. I currently have a recrudescence of my perioral dermatitis which is annoying me greatly, although it’s hidden by my mask most of the time, and that was my only current health concern.
After a moment, I remembered: of course! For a short while, just a few weeks ago, I was greatly bothered with ear wax blocking my ears. It made me quite miserable at the time, and it was a huge relief to get it flushed out. I was so happy! Well, I was for about half an hour, then I forgot all about it.
Why are human beings like this? I know if I got really sick, I’d look back on times like this in wonder about how I took my good health for granted. Why wasn’t I deliriously happy all the time? And in fact, of course, we all know that one day we will die. Life is a gift! And yet…
My husband has first hand experience of this. He had cancer as a young man, and even had a recurrence a few years later. His prognosis must have been pretty bad. But against all the odds, he survived almost unscathed – with just one huge scar that he used to tell his rugby teammates was caused by a shark bite. (Also, did you know gullible isn’t in the dictionary?) This episode really did teach him how valuable life is, and not to sweat the small stuff. Well, that was decades ago – is he still living every day as if it could be his last? Not as far as I can see. Maybe it’s just not human nature.