The Fever That Stopped Everything | by Joshua Akintunde | Activated Thinker | Aug, 2025
It started with a dull ache in my body. At first, I brushed it off probably just fatigue, I thought. A little rest and I’d be fine. But by the next morning, the fever had settled in like an unwelcome guest, and suddenly, everything I took for granted became impossible.
The days blurred together. I’d wake up drenched in sweat, my head heavy, my body aching as if I’d run a marathon in my sleep. Even the simplest tasksstanding up, drinking water, opening my phone felt like climbing a mountain. Writing? Posting on Medium? Creating anything? Forget it.
I’m usually someone who thrives on momentum. I love the rhythm of showing up online, sharing ideas, building consistency. But that week, my body made the decision for me: stop everything.
And here’s the strange part when you’re sick, the world outside doesn’t just slow down, it vanishes. Deadlines, projects, social media notifications… all of them fade into the background. None of them matter when you’re lying in bed with no energy to move.
It was in those still moments when I couldn’t do anything but stare at the ceiling that the lesson really sank in.
We say it casually: health is wealth. But when you’re stripped of it, even for a few days, you realize it isn’t just wealth. It’s everything.
You might have a thousand problems in life-bills, goals, unfinished projects, frustrations but the second your health fails, it becomes your only problem. Nothing else can compete with the urgency of simply wanting to feel better again.
I remember thinking: if I could trade all my tasks, my to-do lists, my half-written drafts for just one thing my strength back I would do it without hesitation.
Thankfully, I’m recovering now. Slowly, but steadily. And I’m returning with a deeper respect for the body that carries me through all my ambitions. This pause, though frustrating at first, became a reminder that rest is not weakness. It’s survival.
So if you’ve been wondering why I disappeared from this page and other platforms it wasn’t by choice. My body pressed the pause button, and I had to listen.
But I’m back. With more stories, more lessons, and a stronger belief in protecting the foundation of it all: our health.
Because health isn’t just wealth. It’s the silent strength that makes everything else possible. And when it crumbles, nothing else can stand.
