We humans are complex creatures who seem to thrive on having that little bit of control over things in our lives. What happens when we lose it? Does it make us somehow lesser persons?

My last post dealt with the feelings of getting older due to the stomach bug I contracted from somewhere. Later on, it brought on a fever and with it the feeling of loss of control.

First of all, I try not to get sick. I take precautions, as I firmly believe that prevention is better than cure. So, I do take my daily dose of vitamins and other supplements just to boost my body against opportunistic viruses and bacteria as I simply loath the feeling of having to suffer the aches and pains, runny and blocked nose, and fever.

But what is worse, when you are working in a job that requires you to use voice as your main instrument and your brain needs to work quickly and efficiently to handle the people and their worries at the same time… having the flu is just a nightmare. The loss of the needed concentration is something that happens in everyday life, but when you are ill, it just happens so much faster, and you can not work at full capacity.

But as with everything else, it is not just the loss of concentration at work. It is a kind of loss of control over your daily activities and familiar routines. And maybe that is what the “manflu” is partially about?

Science backs up the idea that men suffer more about the symptoms of a respiratory illness, as women are more robust when it comes to immunology defence, but this field still needs more research. But what if it is not just an immune system that should be researched? What if part of the cause is the loss of control over… everything?

I’ll take myself as an example. Yesterday, after a paracetamol and the noticeable effect of sweating the fever down, I decided that I needed to prove that I was already well enough to take our doggos out for afternoon walkies. I got up, got dressed to dry clothes, put on the leashes, and my shoes, felt a bit winded, but out we went. Luckily, the doggos did their business quickly, as after 5 minutes walk to the grass patch and back, I felt like I had run a kilometre.

After that, I felt totally useless for a while, but after a nap, I felt well again. At least well enough to fill up the dishwasher. Slowly.

This led me to ponder about the situation when you know that you are not yet well, but you try to make yourself believe that you are well enough to go back to work. And then, after a feverish night you realise that you are clearly not well enough to go back to work… it recreates that feeling of loss of control over your own life, and you are back in the square one.

But why is it that we are so obsessed with the control part? If that really is the key to making manflu symptoms worse and making everyone stroppy, should we, maybe, try to be less in control?

Maybe we need to break habits like “I always take doggos out at this time and my spouse takes them at that time.” Maybe we need to work on relaxing and realising that we are not irreplaceable at work and that there are others who can manage things whilst we are not there. In fact, the majority of the companies don’t give a hoot if we would be on our dying bed unless they have to pay for it. And maybe we need to just accept that we are human after all, and that includes falling in sick every now and again.

One thing I know for certain is that if you are patient enough to be a patient and recuperate, you will get better soon and can continue with your life sooner than if you try to be 100% effective when you are still recuperating. In that case, the recuperation time will be longer, and you will feel ratty for days before being fully recovered. That, my friends, is easier for me to say than to believe myself.

Stay healthy!