Why I like getting sick

People don’t like getting sick, but I do.

Getting something like the cold has several stages. First, there’s the feeling that it’s coming. Then you’re actually sick—the low point. After a while, you start getting better. It’s the getting better part that makes me like getting sick.

Why is it enjoyable, exactly? You can think of getting sick as a curve that dips down but eventually comes back up, in most situations. After the low point, there’s nothing but improvement, so you can look forward to every moment, every upcoming day where you’ll be more recovered than you are right now. Sometimes it’s gradual—a smooth curve—and sometimes there are jumps as you get much better after an event, like sleeping. Occasionally, you may have an illness that gets better and then gets worse, but if you think of each cycle as its own illness, then the above still holds, as long as you fully recover at the end.

That’s why I like getting sick, but there’s something more to this.

This way of thinking doesn’t end at getting sick. It’s a metaphor for being put into a situation where you have a chance to improve, and this potential for improvement is often the motivation for getting through it, as long as you shift your perspective towards the uphill movements that inevitably follow a low point.

This process could start at finding yourself in an unfamiliar environment, encountering new workplace challenges, or finding yourself lacking a particular skill. In some of these, you don’t necessarily go down to a low point, but you will certainly start at it.

Giving the uphill movements their deserved attention is how I navigate through situations with resilience. It’s why I like getting sick.