the trick is to keep breathing

Im just recovering from the worst attack of malaria like ever. So bad in fact the doctors couldn't even see it in my blood - it's learned how to play dead!! Yikes! Or maybe it was just burnout. Either way, I was six feet from the edge for quite a while, and it was not heaven. Musta had something to do with that night shift I'd been working lately. Id like to say I took the time to sit back and reflect on my life, and strategise for the next phase just about to begin, but nooo. I spent the time under the influence, and those times I wasn't I took sleeping pills, or hit my head really hard against the table. That's how bad the pain was. But having gotten better, I have realised one thing, Murphy be damned, when things appear at their most hopeless, that's usually when our miracle comes. Ever hear the saying "It'll get worse before it gets better"? Ya, there's apparently a ceiling as to how much worse it can get, so you can actually get to that point where it can't possibly get much worse, and the only way to go is better. I was there, although only for a day, and let's just say I've had better days.

The thing you really need to do is to not give up. To hang in there. The trick is to keep breathing. When life throws you a curve ball and you can't hit back. When you get dumped (or dumped on - never exchange words with the garbage man BTW, take it from me :) ). When there's too much month at the end of the money (that might actually be all the time). When the examiner tests everything you dint read and ignores everything you did (perhaps because it was all FHM and Sports Illustrated - these examiners can be such a drag sometimes! :) ). When you find you haven't landed your dream job, and are instead stuck selling insurance to people who would much rather have bread and milk. When the one day you're late for an interview is the day an oil tanker falls across the entire road. When you do get your dream job, but get the boss from hell who never lays off. When the bank forecloses on your house, or the landlord doubles the rent. When the person you love does not love you back. When you're handed lemons, make lemonade, and then find that people actually prefer icecream. When you land in the taxman's radar. Or when it's just one of those days. The trick is to keep breathing. Everything else will work itself out with time. You just keep breathing.

Fleetwood Mac were right on the mark. (that's a fun phrase, Fleetwood Mac on the mark :D) They say in their song Don't stop:

Don't stop thinking about tomorrow
Don't stop it'll soon be here
It'll be better than before
Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone.

The trick is to just keep breathing. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out.

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