Isn’t it great to be young? You’ve got your life ahead of you, you’re getting an education and the possibilities for your life are open and endless.

You’ve got plans for your future, but even if you have no idea of where you want to be in five years, that’s okay because you’ve got plenty of time.

If there’s any drawback to being young, it’s that you take being young for granted. To be fair, you can’t help it because you’ve always been young. You have nothing to compare it to.

Logically you know one day you’ll be old, but it’s so far away you can’t comprehend the situation. And being sick, other than the flu, doesn’t enter your mind.

You don’t have to be old to be sick. Unfortunately some young people have diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart problems through no fault of their own. That’s something I can’t imagine and they have my admiration for their courage and strength.

There are other people, such as myself, who come down with various illnesses because of their own, yes, I’ll say it, stupidity. I’m speaking for myself, so please don’t be offended.

I’ve always been young, and the idea that one day I’d be old never connected with my brain. I’ve gone through life doing as I please and I haven’t taken care of myself. To this day I can take care of anyone else, but not myself. I’ll stay up all night working on a project or helping a friend but apparently I don’t care enough about myself to make sure I get enough sleep or eat a proper meal. And being in college with all of the projects and deadlines only reinforces this. No matter how I’ve felt, I always told myself that I’d be alright.

I’m paying for that now, big time. This summer I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia and severe anemia. They’re not fatal, but there’s no cure for the first two. Two of the three are the result of a lack of self care. Had I realized that I am only human, I’d have taken care of my health.

I’m writing this in hopes it will click with some of you. Please take care of yourselves. Your life and health are fragile and can be taken away in the blink of an eye, and youth isn’t a guarantee of good health.