When you're all choked up...

As a grown up, I realize that through the course of life I have learned many valuable lessons. Some of them were taught to me by my mom and dad. Some of them I learned in school and through experience. Many of them were taught to me by my aunts. Now, I am an aunt and my oldest niece recently started kindergarten. I know that they say everything you need to know you learn in kindergarten. I disagree. I believe there are some things that one cannot learn in a classroom. These are lessons that can only be learned by living. So, here it is. A year's worth of life lessons for all the nieces and nephews out there, or really for anyone who will listen. You may not agree with all of them and they may not work for everybody, but each is a rule that I either try to live by or wish I did.

# 47 Don't be embarrassed if you think you are dying.


This may seem like a silly piece of advice, but it is worth listening to. The other day I was at rehearsal. I had developed a small cold as my body decided it was time to shut down. However, it was not a good time for a system melt down, so I was fighting it to the best of my abilities. I had my juice, water, tissues, and cough drops and I was ready to go. I put in a cough drop so that I wouldn't annoy the rest of the cast as they were reading through a scene that I didn't happen to be in. I popped it in and all was fine until all of a sudden it slipped right down my throat. I tried very gracefully to cough it back up at the same time that I was hoping it would just continue down. All I could think of was that I was about to severely interrupt rehearsal and we only have such a small amount of precious time. I turned frantically to my fellow cast member sitting next to me and motioned wildly. I was trying to not give the universal signal for choking, all the while knowing that I was. Right at the moment when I had decided to give the universal signal, I regained my breath and began to cough again. I slipped into a sort of semi conscious state and I could hear everyone talking around me once they all realized what was going on. "Is she choking?" "Do you need some water?" "She's not choking, she's coughing." "Are you ok?" Finally I got the cough drop out of my throat and into a tissue. Crisis averted.
I may have survived, but I was so embarrassed that I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. I felt like everyone was judging me. Let me just say that it was stupid of me to feel that way. If you ever feel like there is something really wrong, don't hesitate to draw as much attention to yourself as necessary. I shouldn't have been embarrassed that I was choking, I should have been relieved that they all finally noticed.
When you're all choked up, don't be embarrassed. Get help in any way possible.
Recommended buy: The American Medical Association Handbook of First Aid