Energy
In a conversation with a sister a few weeks ago, she asked me, "Which do you feel like you have less of - time or energy?"
My immediate response was, "Energy!"
I have all the time in the world. If I ever don't have enough time to get something done, it's because I chose to spend that time doing something else - reading, sleeping, Facebook, whatever. Particularly on days like today when my kids are in school for seven hours or so, I have plenty of time to do anything that I might want to do today.
What I don't have is the energy.
From the moment I climb out of bed in the morning to when I collapse back into bed at night, I only have a limited supply of energy. I try to get my chores done first thing in the morning because I know that if I save them until later, I won't have the energy left to get them done. Meetings and activities in the evenings are exhausting because I have so little energy left by that time. I find it difficult to get really excited about anything because excitement requires energy, and I feel like I have so little to spare.
Some things drain my energy more than others. Interacting with other people is usually more draining than being on my own, especially when the other people are argumentative, loud, highly energetic, or if there's just a lot of them. Stress, illness and sadness are also big drains on my energy.
Yesterday I was talking to Hannah about an experience playing wiffle-ball with John and Peter (I was pitching and John batted the ball straight back at me, leaving a welt on my arm.) and she asked, "Is that why you never want to play with us?" No, the reason why I'm often reluctant to play ball with my kids is not that I'm afraid of getting hurt. It's that it is physically exhausting and I just don't have the energy!
I've tried to boost my energy levels. I've tried to eat more whole grains, more fruits and vegetables. I try not to skip meals (except on Fast Sundays.)
I try to exercise. On school days I alternate between pilates and aerobics work outs, as well as walking the kids to school and back, and on Saturdays I occasionally play a game of tennis with Steven.
I try to get enough sleep. I'm usually in bed by 9:30pm, and frequently sooner than that. On school days, I get up at 5:30am. Eight hours of sleep should be enough, right?
The last few days have been especially bad, energy wise. I think it's because the kids were out of school for the past week, so not only was I surrounded by loud, high energy kids (who I love dearly) all day, but my routines were thrown out of whack and I wasn't getting my usual exercise. On top of that I wasn't sleeping well at night so I was waking up tired and just went down from there. Hopefully now that they are back in school and I've resumed my routines my energy will return and I'll be able to do all the things I need to do.
My immediate response was, "Energy!"
I have all the time in the world. If I ever don't have enough time to get something done, it's because I chose to spend that time doing something else - reading, sleeping, Facebook, whatever. Particularly on days like today when my kids are in school for seven hours or so, I have plenty of time to do anything that I might want to do today.
What I don't have is the energy.
From the moment I climb out of bed in the morning to when I collapse back into bed at night, I only have a limited supply of energy. I try to get my chores done first thing in the morning because I know that if I save them until later, I won't have the energy left to get them done. Meetings and activities in the evenings are exhausting because I have so little energy left by that time. I find it difficult to get really excited about anything because excitement requires energy, and I feel like I have so little to spare.
Some things drain my energy more than others. Interacting with other people is usually more draining than being on my own, especially when the other people are argumentative, loud, highly energetic, or if there's just a lot of them. Stress, illness and sadness are also big drains on my energy.
Yesterday I was talking to Hannah about an experience playing wiffle-ball with John and Peter (I was pitching and John batted the ball straight back at me, leaving a welt on my arm.) and she asked, "Is that why you never want to play with us?" No, the reason why I'm often reluctant to play ball with my kids is not that I'm afraid of getting hurt. It's that it is physically exhausting and I just don't have the energy!
I've tried to boost my energy levels. I've tried to eat more whole grains, more fruits and vegetables. I try not to skip meals (except on Fast Sundays.)
I try to exercise. On school days I alternate between pilates and aerobics work outs, as well as walking the kids to school and back, and on Saturdays I occasionally play a game of tennis with Steven.
I try to get enough sleep. I'm usually in bed by 9:30pm, and frequently sooner than that. On school days, I get up at 5:30am. Eight hours of sleep should be enough, right?
The last few days have been especially bad, energy wise. I think it's because the kids were out of school for the past week, so not only was I surrounded by loud, high energy kids (who I love dearly) all day, but my routines were thrown out of whack and I wasn't getting my usual exercise. On top of that I wasn't sleeping well at night so I was waking up tired and just went down from there. Hopefully now that they are back in school and I've resumed my routines my energy will return and I'll be able to do all the things I need to do.
Did you get my comment about checking your iron and thyroid?
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