Cold season is fast approaching us, and as much as we all love pumpkin spice lattes and sweaters, we can't get one without the other. So whether you're sick in bed right now browsing for something to soothe your self pitying, or you're just now recovering, the stages of sickness are pretty well-known and universal.

Denial

You know the feeling- the itchy throat, the hot and stuffy nose. They're all tell-tale signs that you're about to undergo one of the least entertaining plights of men. At this moment, you refuse to really acknowledge it. Yeah, you've coughed like ten times and sneezed another five, but you're not really getting sick. Nah, getting sick is for other people, for the weak. And so what if your head feels like it's been squeezed between two bricks. You have too much stuff to do, too much of the world left to explore! Being sick just isn't an option.

Determination

Ok, so maybe you are a little sick. You can't breathe, your throat is dry, and you've decided that maybe you should take some cold medicine for the day. But you still don't think it's worth missing class or work over- you're not that sick. So you try and struggle through it. Cough drops and water become your best friend.

But then you actually get to wherever you're determined to go, and you can't stop coughing. Half way through you contemplate just leaving because you've already coughed three times and four would simply be too much. Not to mention how self-conscious you are about all of your sniffling. By the end of the day you're admittedly ready to spend the next in bed.

Near-Death

You went to bed with high hopes, rested peacefully with the help of your ever-faithful NyQuil, and thought you'd wake up to have a nice, relaxing day in bed. But you couldn't have been farther from the truth, because now you've woken up and you feel like a grape that's been left out in the sun too long-- shrivelled up and sad. You silently curse yourself for all the times you took breathing with a clear nose for granted. Your lips are cracked and dry, your nose is wet and runny. (How can one person have so much snot!?) You've sent a million texts to your friends about how sick you are, how you're sure life hates you. And you think, "this is it- this is how I die."

Freedom

But to your surprise, you don't. And finally, after being cooped up in your hole of a room for what feels like an eternity, you're able to crawl out into the world and breathe the first breath of clean air. Or, maybe not. You probably still can't breathe, but your throat no longer feels like your mouthwash is made entirely out of shards of glass, and you can't feel your pulse in your temples anymore. The end is near! You can see it now; frolicking through the flower fields with a clear nose, stopping to smell every damn one simply because you can.

You'll slowly start going to your classes once more, the feeling of being human again restoring energy to the humdrum of your life. Life is great! Well, at least until the kid in your biology class sneezes on you. Again.