Taking Care of Your Health Is Way More Important Than ‘Manning Up’
The toughest part of being strong is admitting when you need help
Mortality isn’t a thought that usually crosses your mind in your twenties. But I found myself face to face with it a couple of days before my 29th birthday.
My daily morning routine began with me coughing to near exhaustion, then taking an allergy pill. After coughing incessantly, I motivated myself by thinking I could get through the day despite fatigue and extreme joint and muscle pain. But most mornings, I felt like I’d been dropped in a burlap sack, rolled down a hill, and beaten with thick wooden baseball bats.
Yet, pride caused me to ignore my health symptoms. Instead of going to the doctor, I kept thinking, I’m in my twenties, I’m invincible, I can’t be sick, it must be work stress. I figured I could treat my ailments by “manning up,” so I masqueraded with as much stoicism as I could muster.
Before this health issue arose, several doctors had told me that my persistent cough was caused by a nasal drip from allergies. Without bothering to do any testing at all, the doctors associated my pain with my weight. While their conclusions didn’t seem accurate, I didn’t question them — perhaps because the diagnosis was a way for me to tell myself that…
