The last two days were polar opposites for me. I worked on Thursday and felt terrible for many hours after my shift ended. In contrast, I had yesterday off and felt great for most of the day. What caused the drastic difference? For the most part, it came down to listening to my body and giving it what it needed yesterday vs not doing that the day before.
I didn’t drink nearly enough water and went too long without eating on Thursday. This, combined with the large amount of interactions I had with other people that day and the tremendous stress I’ve felt for most of this week, took a lot out of me. After I clocked out, I stuck around for a while and talked with a coworker to help me settle down. I also skipped the gym and went home to rest and recover. This ended up being a much longer process than I’d anticipated as I spent most of the afternoon flat on my back with a bit of a headache and a feeling of nausea. Fortunately that was the worst it got. As I gradually got hydrated, ate a hearty meal, and continued to rest, I slowly felt more like my usual self. I was feeling good enough around 10:30 to unicycle without issue and I even did some chinups and stretched before bed. By the time I went to sleep, I had been feeling pretty good for a few hours.
The self-care I did Thursday evening got me off to a good start Friday morning. I woke up still feeling quite tired, so I reset my alarm and slept in a bit more. After that, I ate a good breakfast and then went in for a float. That was my second float this week and it helped relax me by eliminating most of my stress. I felt a bit hungry once my float ended so I got some food shortly thereafter. I drank a good bit of water and spent a lot of time by myself since being around other people starts to drain me after a while. As a result, I was able to unicycle around 8:30 and juggled about that same time as well. I finished off with a good dinner, wrote this post, read, did some chinups, and stretched before going to bed.
I often learn lessons the hard way and it looks like this was one of those times. Having one day in which I didn’t take proper care of myself followed by one in which I did communicated this message to me loudly and clearly. Now I can think back to these two days whenever I feel inclined to slack in my self-care, which I hope will help me avoid doing so. Please do yourself a favor and learn from my example so you don’t have to learn the hard way. Listen to your body and give it what it needs. If you’re thirsty, drink a lot of water. If you’re bursting with energy, stand up and move around for a while. And if you’re constantly feeling tired during the day, get more sleep. The better you care for yourself, the better you’ll feel and the more effectively you can live. Take care and I’ll see you in the next post.