If you’re hospitalized, there are two things you can do: lie there and bitch about your “bad luck” or resolve to get yourself better. You will soon realize, as you look around, that there are many others who are far worse off than you.

If you’re capable of walking around like I was, and you’re not yet hooked up to whatever machine is the scheduled entertainment for the day, then you can always go walkabout. Trust me, it’s a humbling and learning experience.

Now hold on a goddam minute here, Dave – why on earth would I voluntarily wanna go walkabout in a bloody hospital? Have you completely lost your mind?

Well, you don’t have to. I recommend it though, if you want to grow as a person. You see, we’re normally so wrapped up in ourselves and our narcissistic lifestyles that we seldom pause to consider what we’re putting our bodies through. We tend to take things for granted. Until something breaks down. That’s your body giving you a not-so-subtle message.

We’re taught to practice defensive driving. Ironically, we’re not taught to practice defensive living. We happily smoke, drink, snort, shoot up, inhale, and sniff. We slowly but surely poison ourselves with unhealthy food. We deprive ourselves of sleep so that we can enjoy more clubbing time. We stress ourselves out to earn more money so that we can “enjoy” more of the above and in the process we dig an earlier grave for ourselves. We’re a strange species, we are.

I’m still the same old Dave. I’ve not gone all doom and gloom on you, neither have I decided to become the new messiah of healthy living. All I’m saying is if we can just stop for a minute and see where we’ll possibly ultimately end up, then we just might decide to live our lives more responsibly, if not for ourselves then at least for our loved ones. All things in moderation, my friend.

For example, a visit to the Nephro/Renal ward will permanently cure you of your smoking habit. As you look at the constantly coughing patients lying there, you realize that some of them have tubes coming out of their trachea and leading to a bucket under their beds. This carries mucous, phlegm and various other disgusting muck from their irritated, scarred and damaged lungs.

They are constantly coughing to try and clear their throats of the results of emphysema, asthma and bronchitis, and to draw in a breath of air. Their breathing is raspy, gasping and rattling. Their cough has that trademark double resonance that marks a smoker’s cough, kind of like a human Harley Davidson.

Some are on ventilators. Many have throat, mouth or lung cancer. All have one thing in common – they will desperately urge you to stop smoking. I gave up my favourite Marlboro Lights about a year and a half go because my girlfriend took a stand and asked me to choose between her and Phillip Morris Inc. She won hands down. As I walked around that ward, I silently thanked her in my heart and I just knew I would never light up again. Ever. Nothing works quite like a graphic display to make a believer out of me.

You like to drink to excess? No problem, go to the Liver ward and visit the Cirrhosis patients. Better still, buy some small soft toys and candy and pay a visit to the children’s ward. Look at the little kids who are paying the price for their parents’ excesses. The innocent second hand smokers and drinkers and drug addicts. If you’re not moved to tears you aren’t human.

Again, I’m not here to lecture you on how to live your life. I’m the least qualified person for that. After all, I’m the guy who has been involved in the entertainment industry for the past 23 years. I’ve been running some of the best-known clubs in the city, and I’ve smoked and drank with the best of them (the rest shall remain unsaid – a gentleman never tells).

All I’m saying is that I’ve had a wake-up call. Something beyond my control decided to give me two hard slaps and put me in a situation where I had nothing to do but think and reflect and decide to make some changes for the better.

And maybe share my experience with you. If you’re still reading this far, that is…