What better way to end the first week of January than...

...swig more codeine-laced cough syrup and down my last Azithromycin tablet.

Yep. I am still really sick.

I mean what the *&#*^, is going on???

I swear, the only thing keeping me from crossing over (if-you-know-what-I-mean) is Alexander Fleming's little accidental invention - PENICILLIN.

Thank-you Mr. F. Or rather, Sir Fleming. (I dare say he deserves that knighthood more than Elton John - no offense to the king).

Yessirree. I attribute my being alive to two things - Alex Fleming and indoor heat.

No wonder most of those early Canadian settlers died over winter, (poor bastards).

It's not that I haven't improved mind you...

I feel pretty good in the morning, (gone are the days of dry-coughing 'til tears run down my cheeks and I have to cross my legs so I don't pee myself from the force),

but then I step outside...

... and that cold air hits my lungs like a jackhammer.

Within fifteen minutes, my body is in shock and my breathing shallows in an effort to avoid the deeper ones that bring with them spasms of pain and more leg crossing.

And old man winter is there to remind me who's boss. All ye, bow to mother nature.

But I'm gonna do something our forefathers could never do in this great country of ours way back in the 1800's when they got sick.

I'm gonna bugger off to California at the end of the month for a week. What better way to end the Six Month Experiment?

Who's laughing now, eh? Old Man WINTER?

So really, I have no cause to complain.

All I have to do between now and then is get better.

Next - The importance of taking trips...

What better way to start the first week of January than...

...swig some codeine-laced cough syrup while downing an Azithromycin tablet.

Aye. For once, I am really sick.

(So much for saying, "Aw gee, sorry you feel so awful. I can't remember the last time I was sick"! in front of someone with more sniffles than a German Shepard at the Mexican border).

Braggers beware - after years without so much as a tiny recollection of being flat on your back with a cold or the flu, it is possible that one day, you too will be reminded of how fragile it is to be human.

The good news is, my immune system should to be stronger afterwards. And now that I've been there, done that, I can get on with the business of manifesting because I won't get sick again for like, a year.

Okay, more like 6 weeks (or so they say).

I just wish it had been the stomach flu - that would have only lasted two days and performed the double duty of dispensing with those additional Xmas pounds while detoxing my body in a way that diet pills only dream of doing (if only causing stomach cramps, projectile vomiting and giving one Montezuma's revenge were legal side effects).

But it's all good now.

Almost.

I still hear that god-awful gurgling sound when I lie down... and then the wheezing starts.

As I roll from side to side, trying to get to sleep, my chest becomes a symphony of phlegm-induced noises that leaves me hallucinating that some sinister orchestra is trying to play Mozart's requiem in my chest.

And the entire string section is on acid.

Still, I managed to get real help a mere two weeks after this infection began. I guess I just couldn't take choking in my sleep anymore.

(Better late than never I say).

So it's all good now. Or At least it will be soon.

And next time I'm this sick, I won't go to the outdoor driving range to hit some golf balls in JANUARY IN WINNIPEG - the coldest city in the world with a population of over 1/2 million - even if they do have vents blowing hot air.

Hot air my ass. My lungs didn't agree.

This year, I vow to listen to my body, voice my needs more clearly and make others pay attention when I know what is best for me.

That's part of manifesting too.

Being heard... stating what you want, what you need, what you don't need and what you wish to change.

Knowing what's good for you, knowing when you're burning out and knowing when to draw the line. And voicing it.

But that means taking full responsibility.

And sometimes that entails (what we think) is hurting other people's feelings in the process.

But in the end, it doesn't matter. Besides, if they're really your friends they can take it.

All that matters is that you learn to trust you instincts. And if your instincts tell you to put the brakes on - whether it's because you're sick or something else - then you better damn well listen or you will suffer the consequences.

I can't continue with this experiment in all its glory if I can't put my foot down when I need to! It's like spinning my wheels!

I have a mere three weeks to go in this Six Month Experiment. I was hoping to finish with a bang, but it looks like I still have some old patterns that need tweaking.

Thankfully this experience gave me more than just phlegm. (The bronchitis that is, not the experiment). It taught me another lesson.

I learned that if you don't take care of yourself, nobody else will. If you don't think your health is important enough to say 'no' to something, then nobody else will either.

The lesson is: you draw unto you experiences that mirror your level of committment to yourself.

No more, no less.

If I wanted people to care that I'm sick - and I mean to really care (you know, be sensitive enough to recognize what is in my best interest) - it must first begin at home - ie; with me.

So, if I made myself sicker in the process by not recognizing this truth, then so be it. I deserve it.

It was a lesson worth learning at the beginning of what I imagine is going to be a fabulous year.

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Next - Back to basics: the process begins... again...