How To Be Alone & Sick

If you’re anything like me, being alone & sick fucking sucks.

How are you supposed to make yourself soup when you’re stuck with your head in a toilet or trashcan?

How are you supposed to buy yourself electrolyte drinks when you don’t drive on a good day?

How are you supposed to take care of yourself when you feel—or are—completely alone?

Well, today’s newsletter is covering all of that and more.

Buckle in, because here’s how to be alone & sick.

How To Be Alone & Sick

1. Prepare your Sick Kit starter list

The only way to be alone & sick & happy is with preparation.

It’s hard to know what you’d need off the top of your head, so start here:

• Think back to the last time you were really sick. I’m talkin’ like gut-wrenching, up-all-night kind of sick.

• What did you need then? Was it a cold washcloth? A trashcan near your bed? Someone to refill your water for you?

• Write down that experience. Write down the step-by-step replay of what happened & what you needed as a result of that.

• Start there. Look at your play-by-play and identify what you needed. This is your Sick Kit starter list.

For inspiration, here’s my starter list:

1. A cup for water

2. Earplugs

3. No-strap eye mask

4. 200mg ibuprofen liquid capsules

5. Prescription anti-anxiety meds

2. Put your starter list items in one place

By pre-planning to have your starter list in one designated spot, you’re making the decision now about where to find stuff when you have a hard time thinking straight.

3. Keep adding things to your list

The final step requires you to get sick to improve, but that’s the reality of becoming better at taking care of yourself: It’s going to take you not taking care of yourself to recognize what you need to take care of yourself.

This is the essence of adulthood and life, really.

As Jake The Dog once said, “Sucking at something is the first step to being sorta good at something.”

Today, Gather Your Sick Kit

If you struggle to take care of yourself when you need it, I’m going to take a wild guess that you struggle to take care of yourself on a good day.

The answer is preparation and planning, as shitty as that is to hear.

There’s no magic fix here.

There’s no trick.

Prepare for the worst & plan for the best.

That’s how you get ahead in life.

Writing this has got me curious, though:

• What’s in your Sick Kit?

You don’t have to be a paid subscriber to “reply” to this email!

Let me know by clicking “reply” 🙂