There's an Edge to Exhaustion and I'm Always Happy When I Find a Way to Rejuvenate Myself Before Its Too Late

My day began at 6 a.m. and when I returned at 5, I wanted to do one thing...get under a warm blanket and fall asleep. Last night, my brain began racing with post-sabbatical neurosis, and even though I wanted to rest, I couldn't get into a rhythm. My day started with a deficit, but I got through it.

First step of a new semester. Retreats. Typically these are a circus even of circumlocution, but we were a small crew today and accomplished a lot.

I tried to print out materials for the semester, but the campus reconfigured its printer drivers and so no one has access to printing...just yet. I did the proverbial two hours of waiting to get help and then finally said, "There's always tomorrow."

That's when I came home ready to call it all off. When I arrived, however, Chitunga was in Mr. Clean mode and had everything wiped down, swept, and mopped. He was finishing when I returned and guilt kicked in that he was a cleaning maniac and I just wanted to impersonate a slug (maybe a sloth). I decided to help out by doing laundry and then decided, "Crandall, you need to go for a run. Yes it is dark. Yes it is cold. But if you go right this second, you may revive the lethargy that has been creeping in you all day.

So I yawned and had a glass of water. I got on my kicks and I ran. I think it's because Biggest Loser is back on and whenever I think of an excuse not to exercise, I hear the hosts yelling at me. If they can do it on the show, I can do it in Connecticut.

I ran in the pitch black and was captivated that with every leap and gallop, I could feel my body coming back alive. This was a good thing, because after 45 minutes I returned and felt refreshed. It spurred another four hours of productivity and I am thankful I beat the inner "Donald Downer" who wanted me to give up for the day.

That edge between giving up and becoming revived needs to be named. I'm not always this fortunate, but yesterday, it kick-started me forward in a space I needed to be.

And today is Thursday. Time to repeat it all over again.