i have been in bed for 4 days with influenza. you know you are suffering when you sweat through 5 shirts in one night. you know you are suffering when you have a 102 temp for six days straight, you know you are suffering when you cough a burning hole in your chest for a week. you know you are suffering when you spouse has to tend to your every need for 4 days in a row. there is only 1 lesson to take away from this –get your flu shot every year regardless of anything else going on in your life. yet, through all this suffering in the waning days of 2012, there is a blessing that occurs. your mind becomes clear like never before. you instantly know where you stand in life with yourself, with your family, with your friends. you know that every move you make going into each new year are the right moves and that you should not force any moves –life will guide you. you do not need to fear the unknown of the future –life will guide you through every success and failure. you do not need to 2nd guess your past actions –those actions happened because they were meant to happen. friends will come and go and those that stick are meant to stick. don’t fret over lost friends. don’t feel guilt that you might have caused the loss. you can only do what you have to do –what life wants you to do. we do have a destiny and the sooner we embrace this idea, the sooner your destiny will reveal itself. even from the flu, good can come. this is not plain optimism, this is a lifelong embrace of your destiny. embrace it- don’t fight it.