20 Decemeber 2023

Things need to slow down so we can enjoy the holidays, my body is running on fumes and candy at this point. Yesterday was below freezing and I was outside trying to pull up fence poles, then went inside to work on the house and it seemed like nothing I did worked. Often I talk to my wife about the dangers of “tired brain”. The phrase first entered my vernacular when the baby was born and the first month is probably the most tired people ever get, remember I was a sergeant in the infantry, I know tired. At that level of tired the body is going to make mistakes like everything has been moved two inches to the left. The mind when tired tends to turn into a negative place. There’s a long list of things to do and when tired brain looks at it all seems hopeless. My wife and I have many conversations saying we need to do this, and that, and those, then we have to end the conversation with a reminder that everything is good. A to-do list can seem like a list of what’s wrong, the tired brain takes it personal, but there’s nothing wrong we’re just working down the list. It’ll be nice to get some recovery time, after the holidays things can go crazy again. Exercising has been suspended until a later date, there’s plenty of physical activity around the house. We got a second trash can to help clean up, when I was pushing them back from the curb, up hill, I could feel the workout. Exercise is good to stay healthy, but an active lifestyle is better. In the gym weight lifting is about maintaining good form, pretending the weights are on rails, real life is where free weights are found.