Stock up on your favourite home remedies – cold and flu season is here. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
A terrible plague has befallen our home.
We don’t know whether it’s a cold, the flu or COVID, but everyone here is miserable and sniffly and there are no tissues left.
We’ve tried homegrown oranges, raw garlic, local honey, fresh ginger and lemon tea – I even ate a whole block of Whittakers caramel chocolate to see if it would help (it didn’t).
Every year flu season takes me by surprise, despite my unerring ability to turn the tiniest cold into pneumonia.
Every illness is heralded by the seven steps of grief.
Denial: I think my throat is just tickly because I had too much chilli sauce on my lunch.
Bargaining: Maybe if I consume all of these home remedies it’ll knock this on the head.
Shock: I have the flu! It’s flu season!
Anger: Who gave me the flu?
Depression: This is the worst. I hate having the flu. I’ll never be able to breathe through my nose ever again.
Acceptance: I have the flu. Better stock up on Lemsip and cancel all my plans.
Hope: Maybe this time the flu will not turn into pneumonia.
These steps might look different in your home, but I’d like to turn your attention to ‘anger’ in particular.
Illness is regrettably an unavoidable part of having a fallible mortal body, despite the best efforts of longevity-obsessed billionaires. Especially in winter when we’re all battling the cold in our barely insulated, single-glazed Australian homes, and spending more time inside in close quarters with each other.
What is avoidable is going about your usual routine when you’re feeling under the weather.
Surprise, this column is actually a lecture from your mum.
If you feel ill, stay home. Your Friday night sports team will get along without you.
Your gym buddies will barely notice you’re gone. If you’re busting to do some exercise despite being unable to breathe through your nose, bust out some pushups in the living room and call it a day.
Your job. There are a vanishingly small number of people who cannot work from home, must work close to others, have no possible temporary replacement and whose work is so important that to put it off for a couple of days will result in disaster.
I suspect you are not one of them.
And if you are, will the benefits of going to work outweigh the inevitable avalanche of illness among your colleagues or clients? Be honest.
No food in the house? You can order groceries online now.
Please, please please, as we enter this most dreaded of seasons, be kind to yourself and be kind to the people around you by staying home and having a rest if you’re ill.
Now I’m off to inhale more Lemsip.
Original Article published by Zoe Cartwright on Region Canberra.
