My Friend Suzi

Written 2 weeks ago, but just posted:

I was on vacation last week laying in the sun, relaxing.   But… all that laying in the sun brought on a monster FEVER Blister .   If you’ve ever had a fever blister/cold sore, you know what a huge pain in the patootie it can be.   I was 35 years old and pregnant when I got my first fever blister on my lip.  And, about once or twice a year, I get one in the same exact spot on my lip.  Uggghhh!

In the beginning, I absolutely hated going anywhere or seeing anyone when I had this huge monster on my lip.  And of course,  I usually had a meeting with a new client about the time it was the biggest and ugliest. 

So… now, I just have to deal with it.  But, how do you deal with it when your fever blister enters the room about 30 seconds before you do?   Your friends all try to act like it’s not noticeable, but, really?   Your family, now that’s another story.

Last night, my daughter  said  “Hey mom, you’ve got a little chocolate smeared on your lip”  Bahaha…   I expect it from her, but my neighbor slipped up today and said “Hey, you might want to check your lipstick in the mirror”.     She wasn’t trying to be funny, and she just absolutely turned pale for a second when she realized it was a cold sore.  BUT… I just laughed and said “Oh, that’s my friend Suzi.  She’s been tagging along everywhere I go lately”.  

Something this big can’t be denied!   And, since I can’t hide it, and I can’t stress over it, I just decided to acknowledge the elephant in the room.   And this is one huge elephant!   

So… I just decided to give my elephant a name, and stop pretending it’s not there.   When I went out with the girls today, I said “ Hey everybody, meet my  friend Suzi.   Suzi joined me on vacation, and she just keeps hanging around.  In fact, you probably noticed that she came in first.”    LOL!   We shared a few jokes about the disaster on my face, then moved on to another subject.  And strangely, I didn’t seem to care anymore.  

Sometimes, we’re faced with the things we just can’t control.  The more you try to control it, the more it controls you.   And, who in their right mind wants to lose a minute of precious time to something that doesn’t even really matter in the first place?   Who cares if you have a largely noticeable fever blister on your lip?  If you don’t care, no one else will.  So get over it, and move on.  There are plenty of other things to worry about.  You know what… by facing my stressor head on, I took the trauma out of it. 

Miss Suzi came on like a thunderstorm in April, and tried like the dickens to make me uncomfortable.  But, since I had to have her tag along all week, I decided to make sure we both had fun!   Instead of being stressed out all week, I just decided to laugh it off and move on.   Who knew that getting older and wiser was going to be this much fun?