After working for 16 of the last 18 days, I finally hit the wall today. Maybe you heard the sound of me crashing around 4:30 Sunday afternoon when I returned home from the Hong Kong Bakery, my belly full of terrific Chinese food. My initial thought had been to grab Jeter and head down to the dog park for a little bit of play time. But, I started thinking about our last visit’s mud situation down there and my utter lack of interest, (or energy, it turns out), in giving both the puppy and the bathroom a thorough cleaning two days in a row, and decided that a nap for myself was more necessary than a play date for Jeter. Sorry, puppy.
I climbed into bed with a book and was asleep in less than 10 minutes, a state I stayed in for nearly 2 hours. Long naps are not typically my thing. In fact, I boast of my ability to benefit from a mere 5 minute nap. Sunday, though was different. Both my body and my brain needed required demanded some down time. I was tired.
If you know me, you’re aware that I like to pace myself. All of the activity and events of the last few weeks, though, got away from me a bit and sleep was the only area that had “spare” time built-in. I think I’ve averaged 5 hours or so of that precious state lately, no more than 4 of those hours being consecutive and uninterrupted. Work and boys and Jeter have conspired to challenge, and ultimately upset, my best intentions to balance living with rest.
I am so grateful that I’ve learned to recognize and respect my body’s need to regroup. Saturday night, after waiting on what seemed to be the entire Western Hemisphere,* I fell asleep with the alarm set for 7:00 a.m. and a firm intention to both run and photograph a race in Saratoga. That didn’t happen. Even though I initially put my running clothes on, I just didn’t feel like busting my ass to do both tasks and I elected to go with the job that paid. It was a good choice.
So, what do you do when you hit the proverbial wall? If you’re anything like me, you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and sign the wall with a big ole Silvia was here. And you just keep going.
*a bit of hyperbole, but there was a large table of Canadians as well as an even bigger table of folks from various countries in South America via NYC.
