A lot of times, I overestimate the capabilities and endurance of my physical body. I get the illusion that I’m almost invincible, and that delusion feeds me a certain amount of adrenaline that keeps me persisting…until my body can take no longer and crash.

No matter how strong, how intelligent, how talented one may be, you will always be restricted by the limits of your human body and mind. And that…is incredibly humbling. And in a strange way, also oddly relieving to realize that you are not almighty. You are not a Super; you are just human. You do the best you can do, and that is enough. Leave the rest to God, who is the only one truly unrestrained by this three-dimensional, flesh-and-blood body.

I experienced this the night before my two exams. I was frantically trying to finish all the reading that I’ve missed, but at one point, my brain was so overloaded that nothing was going in. My brain was like a machine that just sparked and fizzled from overheating. Meanwhile, my body was aching from hunching at the desk, and my fingers were cramped from hours of note-taking. Together, my mind and body screamed, “STOP!!”

So I did. Despite the fact that I had my two exams the next day, I put all notes and textbooks aside, and rested (i.e, watch Hulu and read blogs!).

The next day, I got up an hour before my first exam, and tried to continue on with my studies, but my mind was not cooperating. In despair, I cried out to God: “Okay, I know it’s all my fault that I didn’t prepare well and pay attention in class…I’ve learned my lesson. But now, please…just help me out a little. At least let me know that I’m not alone, that you are with me. I’m weak, and I need you.”

And with that earnest, desperate prayer, I re-read my notes. What happened then was definitely not from my own intelligence and power, but all of a sudden, everything became clear to me. It was like God lifted the murky fog from my mind, and I began to actually assimilate all the information—not just to learn it, but understand it, and even connect and view it with the entirety of the course. It was amazing.

The exam was still freaking hard. Obviously, God wasn’t gonna make it super easy for me when I clearly did not perform my duty as a student. But from that one experience, I regained my humility: I am but a creation, a human. I also have but this one body. It’s not all-powerful, but if I treat it and utilize it well, it will serve me well.

Thankfully, I did not get sick—though allergies have hit me bad this year, and a startling amount of fluids I’ve never knew I had inside me is running out of my nose constantly. Sorry, TMI?

My poor roommate is not faring better. She’s gotten sick, and is suffering from congestion, too. Between the two of us, we must have used up 7 boxes of tissues within a week.

I was so happy to receive this seasonal tea!

It’s one of my favorite teas, and I swear, it’s like drinking liquid sugar cookies. Without the sugar high and crash, of course. Always a plus.

I gave this one to my dear roommate:
Hopefully it will help her with her cold. Get well soon, roomie!

And I’m drinking lots of cups of this one:
It didn’t exactly whisk away my allergies, but it sure tastes really good, with a subtle, creamy vanilla flavor.

I’ve already drunk a few cups of this one:
Because I overate on nuts and my tummy was hating on me. I loved the minty, refreshing fragrance. It definitely helped my aching tummy.

But I think my favorite, besides the Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride, is this one:
Never thought of sweetening green tea…but the hint of honey flavor in it was really soothing and delightful.

Don’t be envious of my lovely tea stash…Celestial Seasonings is offering one of you a $60 worth “Natural Wellness” kit, which includes all those above tea (besides the Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride) plus:

• Mug
• soothing lip balm
• honey sticks
• Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Bear
• The book Herbs for Health and Happiness by Celestial Seasonings founder Mo Siegel and Nancy Burke

Sweet deal, yes? What are you waiting for? Enter! Here’s the ways you can enter, for each entry:

1. Comment by answering the Question of the Day (listed below)
2. Tweet: “Celestial Seasonings Natural Wellness Kit kicks the flu’s butt Giveaway @burp_excuzme: http://bit.ly/aR7NmM” and leave another comment telling me you did so
3. Mention it on your blog, and leave me a comment with a link to your blog post

That’s it, folks! And one lucky winner will have all the accessories to help chase the Spring flu, allergies, yadee yadee yadah away!

But let me remind you…one more thing that is awesome for preventing sickness: chicken soup. Duh.

I’m so proud of myself. I actually made some seriously kick-ass chicken porridge…from scratch! Thanks to the awesome slow-cooker I received from Christina, I was able to make my own chicken stock. It’s the easiest thing ever—just chop up a bunch of vegetables (doesn’t matter what and how much), throw it into a slow-cooker with a chicken carcass, pour plenty of water over, and slow-cook for about 12-18 hours.

Then strain the carcass and vegetables away, collecting all the precious chicken-juice into a container, and put it in the fridge. The next day, skim off the fat. And there you go! Pure, homemade chicken stock!

I used it to make my mom’s chicken rice porridge:

Mom’s Chicken Rice Porridge (Slow-Cooker)

• garlic
• bit of fresh ginger
• celery
• carrots
• shitake mushrooms
• white rice
• chicken stock
• cooked chicken, shredded
• sesame oil
• soy sauce
• green onions, chopped
• toasted nori, shredded

Put everything except the cooked chicken into the slow-cooker. I didn’t add measurements because it’s really all up to your own taste preference.

Cook at high for about 4 hours, and then low for about 6 more hours. Before serving, stir in the cooked shredded chicken. Season with salt and pepper.
When ready to serve, ladle desired amount into a bowl. Drizzle in sesame oil and soy sauce, and top with green onions and nori. Serve!
The best comfort bowl ever. It’s actually been scientifically proven that chicken soup really does wonders for colds. Apparently it’s because of the combination of ginger, garlic, and chicken in there.
But I’ll bet the biggest factor for cold remedy is because it reminds you of care and love…at least, that’s the way it is for me. When I first went into refeeding after my hospitalization from anorexia, my mom made this every single day for me. At the time, I pretended that I hated it, and complained bitterly. But in truth, I relished it, because I knew my mom made it with deep affection and love.
Each spoonful and bite really tasted like it’s been infused with my mom’s love. I’m not trying to be disgustingly sentimental here…but I really felt teary and missed my mom a lot while I ate this.
Amazing how something so simple and plain can be stuffed with so much meaning and emotions, isn’t it? I gave a bowl of this chicken rice porridge to a friend of mine, and this is what she said, word for word: “Oh wow. This is better than my mom’s!”

Wow. Is that not the best compliment one can have? Though, I hope her mom never reads this.

So here’s the Question of the Day for you: Which dish holds a lot of sentiment for you? It can be any kind of emotions, and connected with any kind of events and people.