Saturday, October 18, 2008

My definition of a bad day

Most days of my life are great. I have a beautiful wife and son, a job I enjoy, and lots of love and support from family and friends all around. This past Tuesday was not a great day. Bummer #1. I had organized a XC meet for 8 teams from all over Hong Kong with over 150 runners. The races were going smoothly until the high school race was 3/5 the way done and 90% of the runners took the wrong turn finishing the race way before they should have. The race was pretty much a total failure and it was my fault since the course wasn't marked clearly enough. Bummer #2. After the race I was going around picking up cones when I almost stepped on a king cobra. It whirled around, hissed and flared its hood at me. Had I taken one step further I would have had a nice ride to the ER. Bummer #3. Then for some unknown reason, perhaps stress, that evening I contracted hives. It was probably equivalent to rolling in a bush of poison oak with just your skivies on. No sleep, no rest, no relief. The next day I went to the doc and got some powerful antihistamines that knocked me out cold and seemed to knock out the allergic reaction as well. After some reflection I realized it could have been worse. Both races could have gone off course. I could have been bit by the cobra, and I could have a life long condition of eczema or something similar. Despite the ups and downs in life there is always an opportunity to be thankful no matter the circumstances.

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