I’d been dragging around the office all day, all week maybe. My cold was hanging on, just like almost everybody else’s around here. The temperature-in-the-teens didn’t help, but why couldn’t I just suck it up like the rest of my coworkers? They didn’t seem to be complaining, just going about their business, getting the job done.
In a meeting after lunch, I coughed into the crook of my arm. My kids said that this lingering cold had at least corrected my outdated habit of covering my mouth with my hands, which is a good way to spread germs. I supposed I’d taught my little angels well about trying to find a positive in every situation.
Back at my desk after the meeting, I saw that someone had left a few cough drops on top of the manuscript I’d given up on. How could I concentrate on editing with this cold? I opened a lozenge and looked more closely at the writing on the little wrapper: “Get back in there, champ!” “Flex your ‘can do’ muscle.” “You got it in you.” “High five yourself.” “Tough is your middle name.”
I had to laugh—which made me cough! But at least I hadn’t lost my sense of humor. And that was definitely positive. At some point I will figure out which office angel sent me the perfect message in a cough drop. For now, I had a manuscript to concentrate on.
