Conjunctivitis, an annoying infection of the eye. The Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI) Guide to Wilderness Medicine does not address this particular malady. Thankfully, I know what it is. Basically anyway. It is a bacterial infection where they eye secretes a puss that crusts up while you sleep making it difficult to open one’s eye(s) in the morning. In serious cases it is impossible to open the eye(s) without first softening the crust with a wet cloth. Yuck.
Last night we hiked about 2.5 miles in the dark to get to our campsite here in Point Reyes National Seashore. Today we hiked back out because of a crusty eye and the need for antibiotics. I don’t know what would happen if we left it alone, would the infection spread to the other eye? Would it get worse in both eyes so that I couldn’t open them at all? Would it infect more parts of my eye, slowly taking my vision? Maybe. And maybe not. Maybe it would’ve been just fine and we didn’t really need to hike to Point Reyes Station to go to a clinic to see a doctor who diagnoses what I already know and writes a prescription for what I need to cure it. But in this case, better safe than sorry, right?
It seems like since we left Bishop, CA it’s been one catastrophe after another. Ok, maybe catastrophe is an overstatement, but it’s definitely not been easy so far. First overheating, then a new/used engine, then another new/used engine, then 5 full days of sickness, weird engine stuff while driving the truck with its new/used engine, conjunctivitis, thermostat replacement… what’s next? And what’s all this supposed to be teaching us? I believe that things happen for a reason. We don’t always know what that reason is, but often I think hardships, things not going the way you think they will or how you want them to, these moments are meant to teach us something.
When I was younger and I made mistakes that cost me money my mother would say it was “tuition to the school of hard knocks”. I still believe this. I always learned something then, to read the fine print, to walk carefully, to get enough sleep, to watch out for really big trucks when driving my little Miata. Sometimes the “payment” to the school of hard knocks isn’t money, it’s time, or a sense of security, or a bad grade, or even a lost friendship. It’s hard when things are going poorly to keep a positive outlook on life, to see the silver lining, or to think about what lesson you can learn from this latest “catastrophe”. And even that may be a lesson in itself. To give in to that despair costs happiness, and that too can perhaps teach us something. That too, I believe happens for a reason.
I'm glad you're back on the road, and I'm glad that you are getting some of your goals accomplished! rock climbing! solving the little problems that we can!
ReplyDeleteI like your mothers saying "tuition to the school of hard knocks" for it is true - that when we want things to go a certain way, they don't always come together.
I find that if I stop trying to do it my way, and just let things happen - then it goes a lot easier. A great phrase I heard and love "If I would have got my way, I would have short changed myself everytime" So maybe your vision, isn't as great as the world has in mind for you. Perhaps "let go" and let it happen. another great quote before I went to Africa I was petrified. I had a lot of expectations and fears, cuz my year in France was detrimentally life changing in a terrible way... and a great mentor said to me "Africa might suck. And that's ok. It's ok to come home and say you had a terrible time." and I took that to heart, it allowed me to hate it some days- in fact every single night I woke up dreaming and longing to be back in America. But allowing myself to feel that longing, allowed me to love it all that much more.
I'm rambling. And I hope I'm not saying too much. But it's ok if you feel like it sucks. As Alec always says (which I love to death and now have owned) "It's okay." period. It's ok.