I got my flu shot this season AND I’ve been taking my vitamins, eating right & working out…AND I STILL GOT SICK!!

But I knew it was coming. I felt the mucus increase. I felt the headaches becoming more intense and more frequent. I felt the labored breathing as my exercise-induced asthma flared up during my workouts. And then it happened. Congestion. Runny nose. Itchy, watery eyes. Barely able to talk…to breathe. I felt miserable.

As I lay on my sick bed I couldn’t help but wonder how did I get sick. I thought I was doing all of the right things. However, as I replayed my last couple of weeks I could see the alerts that I missed. It was STRESS.

I was stressed out about personal stuff and feeling the pressure from my age and circumstance. I was stressed out about physiological stuff and conditions within my body that is getting harder to deal with as the months come and go. I was stressed out about physical stuff and working out and eating right with no physical results. I was stressed out mostly about work stuff – typical start of the semester stress when course assignments aren’t solidified but also there was an additional layer of stress related to some paperwork that I needed to have process that just wasn’t moving forward. I WAS STRESSED.

But I didn’t see it. Well, the other stuff was normal stuff on my plate. Like my baseline stress tolerance, but the paperwork took me over the edge. My body was done. I was done. I slept. I took meds. I slept some more. I watched tv. I took meds. I ate. I slept. I rested. I RESTED.

I knew that nothing would get better until I rested, so I did. I’m still not 100% but I’m also not as sick as I would’ve gotten had I not stopped to rest. So, this is me reminding you to take time to access your stress levels so you don’t get caught slipping like I did!

Take care of yourselves in these here streets.

Stassi