No matter what...there will always be someone worse off than me.

I have shingles!

Yes it's known as an old person disease.

Yes you get it from too much stress.

Yes it lasts anywhere from 2-4 weeks.

It's the week before finals. I had just two more weeks and I was home free. I am now in a world of pain and stuck with papers, projects, and finals to study for. I am at the point where I just want to give up, but I won't because my grades and transcripts mean too much to me (it's ridiculous I know).

But regardless of the fact that I am struggling through these final weeks of school let's look further into the future at my favorite time of year, Christmas time.

Christmas time is amazing because of the cookies and friends and carols and relaxation and kisses under the misseltoe. My Christmas time will be without kisses, without late nights of fun with friends, and without relaxation because I will still be trying to recover from my disease.

It is all just so sad to me.

The one bright spot in the holidays that I am looking forward to is being able to talk face to face with my best friend for the first time in four months.

I am sorry if I am a downer and depressing everyone, but this is what I feel. I can't escape it and I refuse to pretend everything is okay just so I can write a happy blog.

But what is really sad is among this misery of mine I am reminded for the first time in months of the misery of others. I am forced to think, "Oh my gosh, what if this was my life all year round?" or "What if I didn't even have a home to go home to and I was this sick?"

It's amazing to me how caught up I get in everything that I am doing and how great I feel when things are good in my life. It's like if things are good for me the whole world must be doing great, and it's not until I'm miserable that I finally have compassion for all of the thousands of others who are miserable too.

My head is pounding through my skull, my eyes are swollen (half from crying and half from the pain), my arm and chest are killing me, and my stomach is nauseated. I have a ten page paper to write tonight and so I must go, but I leave you with this thought: "Whatever you are going through, think of someone who has it worse and pray for them."