It's all what you are used to.  People who have to deal with things all the time learn how to deal with it.  If your back was sore all the time, you'd learn how to cope with it and move on....or you'd go on SSD, one of the two

I rarely get sick, maybe once a year for a day or 2. I get coughs and stuff, but never enough to keep me from work. If I take sick time, It's more of an excuse to stay home. I'm thankful not to have anything that would disrupt my work.

When I was 18 I was working at a KFC as a cook. At night, when getting ready to close, I had to do a thorough cleaning of my workstation. We used very hot water from a hose to clean the tables and the fryers. In the process I would wet my feet just about every day. Somehow I did not notice my shoes became weak in the fabric and was shifting to the side. I was basically walking on the side of the shoe as oppose to the sole. I wasbending my ankles inwards and since it happened slowly and for a long period of time I didn't niotice the damage I was doing till I started feeling the paid in the morning. I was unable to walk until my feet got warmed up then the pain would go away as if I never had it.

To this day I still get the pains but it only happens when I do heavy lifting or stand up or walk for long periods of time. the pain usually goes away in 3 days and I won't feel it for months again. I have learned to live with it all these years but am sure it will affect me once I am very elderly. Back then I was refered by a doctor to get specially made soles but at $400, they were out of my financial reach. These days I just don't bother I guess since it barely bothers me anymore.

In fact, these are very prevalent complaints...not necessarily agreeing with the diagnoses, though. Headaches are probably the most common complaint in an office visit...that and back pain. In fact these two problems decrease productivity tremendously.

This is why healthy lifestyle, exercise and preventive care (self) are so important.

Brad, if you are starting to suffer severe enough headaches for you to term them 'migraines' (they might be...not saying they are or aren't), please see your Primary Care Physician.

I do think most of us underestimate how common poor health is -- how many people cannot get up off the floor by themselves, have toothache every day, have side effects of medication.  It's not only your poor health, either -- if your child has a mental disability, or hydrocephaly, that's gonna eat up your productive time too. 

The reason we overlook it is that it's not a "normal" thing people talk about on TV ("darn this foot pain, I'm limping everywhere today") and most people don't talk about it except during the period they're adjusting to it.  Like I had no idea that dentures took out your ability to taste food with the roof of your mouth until somebody I knew got them new and complained about it.  Five years later he won't still be complaining to random people, and people will assume he's fine and "normal."

But it's not a complete excuse -- people have had to perform and succeed in poor health forever, such as those who fought the Civil War.

Uh, that Civil War link probably should have gone to page 3 of the article instead.

Noumenon went for civil war, I'd point to the example of Augustus - notoriously poor health his whole life, and yet amazingly successful in extremely difficult circumstances.

Health is a factor, sure, but beyond crippling illness it's not much of one. After all, Stephen Hawking is a success and he can't even move.

I'm extremely jealous though of your rabid immune system.

I've met many people who would rather sit and complain about how bad they have things, rather than putting their head down and getting the next goal achieved.

Being sick probably excacerbates this behavior in people. Some people may have legitimate issues, but I think a lot of people are just looking for excuses.