Today, I want to talk about health over wealth in light of my recent health scare.
Most of you already know that health is more important than wealth.
All the money in the world means nothing if you can’t enjoy it because of ill-health.
My recent health scare got me reflecting on this concept.
It also has shown me just how far I have come over the years in building a strong financial foundation.
Not going to lie, there were times I felt like I was dying…and dividends were the last thing on my mind.
All I wanted was my health to improve and to be my old self again.
Getting Sick
I was feeling quite fine until the weekend of January 18 of this year.
Although I was feeling tired, I still decided on doing some exercises.
As I was getting up, I suddenly felt very dizzy, my heart started racing, and I felt like I was going to faint.
That night I chalked it up to maybe overdoing it with exercise.
Unfortunately, the day after I was still experiencing episodes of heart palpitations, light-headedness, and my body was aching all over.
I went to an urgent care and they did an EKG which showed everything was normal. I then went home.
That night, I experienced something awful.
My whole body was aching like nothing I ever felt before and I was so thirsty I just kept drinking water all night and nothing would satisfy this thirst.
I did not sleep the entire night and in the morning my throat was really sore and it was hard to swallow.
I felt very awful, so I went back to urgent care.
The doctor there did a PCR test and the next day I found out I was positive for Covid-19.
That really explained everything as I began experience the more typical symptoms of Covid such as the 101-degree fever, a light cough, and chest congestion.
After a week, the typical symptoms (fever, cough, and congestion) were gone and I was Covid negative.
However, I was still experiencing debilitating episodes of extreme fatigue, heart palpitations, light-headedness, and muscle aches all over.
I went to the hospital twice because of these.
Every time I exerted myself, my muscles (especially legs) would tire out quickly and I would fall into this extreme exhaustion often with my heart racing or beating heavy.
This went on for the entirety of February, although it lessened over the weeks and I gradually got better. (I even started working out again lightly towards the end of February)
Still, I was in an out of doctor’s offices all month.
I went to a cardiologist twice and wore a heart monitor for a week. Next, they performed an echocardiogram and a stress test to see how my heart was functioning.
Happily, the results were very good and all my blood work was real good.
So, what was wrong?
Well, the consensus amongst doctors is that it was just a bad case of Covid-19 that really effected my body negatively for a bit (kind of a “long Covid” as it is called).
This was my first time (as far as I know) getting Covid-19.
Financial Stress?
Financially, health insurance covered most of the expenses.
I paid the co-payments and spent about $400 when all was said and done concerning doctor and hospital visits, and some medication.
Travel to and from (mostly via uber) added another $127.00.
Covering these expenses was no problem at all.
I have an emergency full (I didn’t need to use it), but my expenses are already so low due to minimalistic living that I just used normal savings from my salary.
I must say, the decisions I made with money some 10 years back really left me in a good place to deal with these unexpected expenses.
Throughout this whole ordeal, I did not suffer one bit of financial stress.
I have my salary (which I save over 50% of my income per month), my emergency fund, my passive income via dividend investments, and no debt.
Money wasn’t even the last thing I was worried about. I was not worried about money at all!
This is another reason why financial literacy, planning, and personal finance is so important. You can really build a great foundation for yourself both now and in the future.
This way when shit does hit the fan (as it inevitably does), finances end up being of no concern.
And less stress (especially financial stress) during the bad times is always beneficial.
Conclusion
Still, it is always health over wealth and my recent health scare highlights that point.
I wondered if I would ever get better… Dividend investing seemed so far away from my concerns.
As of posting this article, my health has indeed returned and I feel great!
I am back to walking many miles per day, working out, and doing all my usual routines.
I feeling like my old self. In fact, I am feeling stronger than my old self!
As great as it feels to get paid a dividend, it is nothing compared to feeling good health!
I would always select health over wealth.
So, what do you think of this post? Let me know in the comments below!
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