The Cost Of Getting Better

Ok, you’re taking the latest medication for your battle with Floogus Of The Moogus. They came out with a new pill that will practically wipe it out and return you to good health once again.

There are a few side effects. You might lose a kidney, get seizures, have memory loss, develop a breath that could melt lead, and possibly fall over dead after drinking milk. Side effects. Listen to them when you hear an ad on tv; there’s one as I write this: nosebleeds, coughing, viral infections.

It’s great to get well, but the road to good health could be dangerous. Irregular heartbeat, difficulty breathing, you-know-what might not work. And these are just side effects.

So you make a chart. On one column, you list what you have wrong with you. On the other column, you list the side effects. Then you step back, look at it and decide which is the better choice. Hmmm… maybe I’m ok with my illness, rather than put up with a nosebleed, sore toes and nightly itchy ears. On the other hand, I can put up with an excess of boogers, fast-growing green fingernails and drooling if I can stop some kind of cancer.

It’s a trade-off. Like choosing a spouse. You want good looks, brains, talent and a few other things, but you know they aren’t all going to arrive in one package. So you figure out what you really want vs. what you’re willing to accept. The side effects.