I only realized these things when I was on the hospital bed
Health is our most precious treasure, and only when we lose it, we start to realize that at that moment, our greatest desire is to bring back our health to normal. Every other gorgeous mirage that we are chasing daily starts to plummet, and we are able to clarify: What truly matters to us?
1. The hey-my-life-is-cooler-than-yours contest on social media is a total BS
Every day I watch people's brightest and coolest moments on my Facebook's news feed, and I also try to have my best, bragging moments uploaded to Facebook. And I don't know since when I have indulged in the endless human show off stage on social media. Only when I was confined to the hospital bed for a week, I realized the cruel truth: My received likes on Facebook cannot turn into medical expenses, and while people were pressing Like, giving comments to my statuses, those moments were fleeting and actually they didn't give much damn. The emotional roller coaster from feeling superior to feeling inferior when surfing social media is poisonous, it harms my mental health in either way, like a zero calories junk food that gives no nutrition and induces cancer. I don't deny the advantages of social media, but for me, the advantages are mediocre while the drawbacks far outweigh them. Actually, I don't feel like I have drawn anything beneficial from browsing Facebook news feed every day. It only leads me down the procrastinator's road and wastes my precious time.
After recovery, I decided to rid myself of Facebook altogether, and keep Messenger only as a mean of communication. I realized that my life would be still handsome regardless of Facebook's existence. No more show-off contest, no more checking notifications and news feed update. Living a life without Facebook in 2 weeks was so refreshing and tranquil. Yeah, I will miss people's coolest moments, some events that I rarely participate in, some humorous posts that I watch with a poker face, some lectures about life that I have read countless times, and things that boost or hurt my self-esteem in an unhealthy way. Well f*ck it, what's the matter then?
2. Means of financial safety is vital, and we should establish our safety net sooner
Even though I'm living in a developed, first-world country with excellent health care and social welfare, the financial damage of being confined in a hospital for a week was absurd. My full-time work is my sole income source, so basically I generated no income during immobilization. And I was billed horrifically when I was discharged from the hospital. That left a big hole in my saving and I have to double my effort to make up for it later.
That's when I think of generating passive income and considering purchasing a health insurance policy. Passive income should help me keep my lifestyle stable without lowering the life quality too much compared to entirely depending on social insurance. And health insurance helps me cover medical expenses, even when social insurance covers a big part of costs, the left that I have to pay is still a significant sum of number. Purchased health insurance will alleviate this damage to my saving account.
The problem is these two have to be done early to become effective. Working to generate passive income takes months or even years. And about health insurance, the sooner you purchase it, the more benefit you will receive. Purchasing it at a later time will invalidate the right to receive cover of diseases recognized before, and sometimes your purchase order will be outright declined. The time during hospitalization opened my eyes to make me realize: I gotta do something about these two before it is too late.
3. We can't be on our own back all the time
When I was at good health, I felt like I can do anything. When the only thing I could do is gaze at the intravenous drip, I felt powerless and hopeless. The moment people feel so in need of someone is when people fall ill. Life sucks when they become unable to do things that they would normally do. I grasped the meaning of this sentence during the hospitalized time "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together". I would rather go slower but farther, than go fast then go broke and never get up.
4. Health first before others
When I was at good health, I wish for everything, strive for everything. When the only thing I could do is gaze at the intravenous drip, all I wish is to recover and get the heck out of this place quickly. Any problems will become minor once we lose our health. If we cannot look after even ourselves then what problem are we going to solve? No problem is really serious. No problem is really unique. As long as we keep our health in good state, we can somehow manage to overcome it. Don't ever compromise with anything by letting it take tolls on your health, either physical or mental. You will regret later, inevitably.
Conclusion
After all, being immobilized in the hospital is not all that bad. A week hospitalized taught me many experiences that cannot be verbally explained. I will treat it as a chance to become a better person having a better life. Wish I never have to come back to that classroom again. Whew!