^ Running on Fumes

The only kind of fatigue that feels good tome is the kind that comes from physical activity. If I wear myself out cleaningmy house, or if I expend all my energy on a long hike up a beautiful mountain,or if I sweat out my frustrations in a particularly good workout, I love theway my body feels wrung out and spent afterwards. That kind of energyexpenditure seems to kick off a recharge cycle for me, so that I feel I get allthat energy back and more following such activities.

But the fatigue I usually endure is broughton my job and emotional stress. Lately, I am working a lot of overtime anddealing with too much political drama at work, and it’s robbing me of my joid’vivre, my joy in living. I arrive home feeling so utterly spent that I don’twant to read. I don’t want to do anything but sit and stare at the wall. Thiskind of “running on fumes” is a short-term thing; I can’t sustain it in thelong-term, nor would I want to.

I think most people in modern culturesaround the world are suffering from this kind of energy sapping stress, andit’s no wonder to me that our tempers are bad, our energy is short, and ourcommitments shaky. Certainly I feel I am in no shape to cope with realdecisions when I am so tired I put milk away in the cabinet not the refrigerator,and it takes so much effort to decide what I might want to eat that it seems futile to even consider more thanone option.

Humans are kind of silly creatures. I don’tthink we get it. I'm not convinced we ever will.