Fortunate

Again, tonight's post is late and will be brief. I am legitimately sorry. Forgive me.

So I don't have a lot to say. But I want to say a bit of something I was thinking about today.

Part of the reason I haven't posted anything today until right now is the fact that I was pretty busy today. I got up, got ready, went to the doctor to get some shots, watched Italy tie a soccer game that leaves them out of the World Cup (don't worry, a big post about that is coming soon), and then I had to work, which didn't leave a lot of time for blogging. But that's not super important, or at least not all of it is.

I just want to talk about one small part of my day today: the doctor.

Part of my mission preparation is not religious, but logistical. In order to serve in Mexico, I have to make arrangements that help me live in this foreign place for an extended period of time. So today, I went to the Salt Lake County International Travel Clinic to get some immunizations.

After a brief period of filling out some paperwork, I was taken into a small room where a kind nurse explained to me a bunch of things about how to stay safe and healthy in developing places, what kinds of diseases and illnesses I need to be aware of in my travels, and how I can best work to be smart in order to not get sick. She was very thorough and helpful and I truly appreciated the things she taught me.

After she told me all these things, we talked about the immunizations I required and she administered them to me. Four small needle pokes later, my arms might be a bit sore but I no longer have to worry about getting the flu or typhoid or a few other things, at least for a while.

And so that was that. This visit of about an hour was all it took for me to prevent myself from getting diseases that, at the very best, would leave me weak and in pain.

So as I was walking out of this building today, I couldn't help but think about how fortunate I am.

Fortunate that I live in a developed country that (although could use some refinements in its legislation) has a very good healthcare system set up with doctors and nurses and everything that I need.

Fortunate that I live in a time after diseases have been discovered, analyzed, and vaccines developed.

Fortunate that my parents have health insurance that covers me.

Fortunate that when I don't have to worry about getting sick because other people have put in the time to study and find out how to prevent some sicknesses.

Of course, my fortune extends far beyond the four shots I received today. But this was the subject on my mind today, so that's what I'm writing about.

There are so many things in my life that I take so much for granted, but today I want to express how grateful I am that I live in a time and a place that allows me to prevent sickness in order to use my time not bed-ridden but out doing things with my life. I am grateful for the chance I have to serve a mission and although I know I'll get sick at some point along the way, it's incredibly relieving that I don't have to have dying from typhoid fever on the list of things I need to worry about.

This post isn't very well organized. Or written. I'm sorry.

Long story short: I'm grateful to be healthy, and dang, I'm grateful to be alive.

I'll see you tomorrow.

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