Goal Weight: 195
Today’s weight: 228.
Fatigue is a thief who’ll pilfer your hopes and steal your dreams.
I hit a wall yesterday. And not with my car. My fatigue caught up with me and I broke down. It wasn’t really physical fatigue — I’ve been physically tired for a long, long time. It was mental fatigue. All the long hours and all the stress came crashing down at once. And I paid for it this morning.
I’m in the same boat as a lot of Americans. The Great Recession has radically changed my life. Now I’ll admit that I’m thankful; it has been mostly for the better. But the stress brought on by that change has caused lots of bad side effects. (Acid reflux being one of the worst.) Yesterday was a particularly stressful day for me. I got moved up a group in my workout where I struggled. My first job was particularly bleak. At my second, I covered the State of the State (something I had never done before but went well.) After a 15-hour day, I met my wife in a parking lot and took the kids home. She got a well-deserved night away and I got the boys fed and ready for bed. By the time I sat down to watch a few minutes of the State of the Union, I was exhausted physically and mentally. I felt defeated. Totally and completely defeated. I hit the wall and melted down.
I woke up this morning still in my work clothes. The clock read ten minutes until my workout started. I had not set the alarm.
Since I don’t own a Star Trek Transporter, I knew I’d miss the workout. So I laced up my running shoes and hit the hills of my neighborhood hard. I ran a strenuous (and at times painful thanks to my ankle) four miles. I pretended I was on the treadmill and would do sprints. I prayed as I ran and tried to get my mind right in the silence of predawn hours.
I made it to work at a little after six, ready to do it all after again. I’ll get home a little before seven tonight. I’ll wake up at 3:45 tomorrow morning and do it all again. Fatigue caused me to fall off the treadmill of life. Now I’m crawling back on.
Fatigue is a thief who’ll pilfer your hopes and steal your dreams. By becoming physically stronger, I’ll be able to keep the thief at bay.
Our pastor is preaching a series of sermons right now on regaining margin in our lives: physical, time, emotional, financial, spiritual (and probably some more that I haven’t heard him mention.) He said that he has been stopped on the street in town and told that these messages are hitting people where they live. Most of us live with so little wiggle room in multiple areas of our lives that hitting one little bump in the road completely derails us.
When you can’t walk, crawling still moves you forward.
You inspire me and give me hope that I can also get myself back on track mentally and physically. Thank you, Marshall.
Thanks for being honest and real. Time is one of my biggest hurdles (never enough of it) and I’m working on it. I’m having to get creative on new work out tricks. My husband works shift work so most of the time it’s me and 2 kids and I work full-time too. My oldest (5) and I have been playing Just Dance on our Wii to ‘just sweat’ as it says. My calves are sore today!
Thanks for the inspiration and helping us all realize we hit walls. Hard.
Marshall, PLEAAASSSEEE remember one rule, REST one day whether it is Saturday or Sunday. (My rest day was Saturday last week, after 10 straight days of work.) God made our bodies to be six day clocks, one day you must rest, then you can be energized to go on the rest.
I want you to be around for me to chat with this summer. ((((((((((((((((((love you)))))))))))