age is really just a number

Still troubleshooting fatigue? Let me describe a day in the life of Superwoman. Perhaps this is you too?

It’s 5:30 in the morning and you jolt awake, without your alarm going off. Your head is fuzzy, but you jump out of bed anyway. Exercise clothes go on and out the door you go. Your run feels like a chore. Your legs are tired, but it seems to clear your head a bit. Back to the house by 6 AM so you can make lunches for your tribe, before they wake up. You grab a cup of coffee like it’s a lifeline to sanity and scarf down a little breakfast, while making breakfast for the kids, and kissing your husband goodbye as he heads out the door. Dishes in the sink and piles of laundry have to wait. It’s time to get the kids up. 

Whining and crabby, they finally make their way downstairs to eat their breakfast so you can hop in the shower confident that they are at least upright. You shower and get ready for work, all the while yelling for them to get their stuff together, brush their hair and teeth.  Then it’s suddenly time to walk out the door.

Three out of five days a week, they’ve already missed the bus, so you combat the crazy traffic to drop them off at two or three different schools, and speed to work; sliding in the back door about 10 minutes AFTER your first patient was scheduled. 

The office is the usual madness. Some days it’s organized chaos. Other days, you feel like you’re running a kindergarten. And every once in a while, it’s a well-oiled machine, just to confuse you. You work at your desk or have a meeting through lunch, then more patients. You try to get all your charts done before you leave, but usually don’t succeed. So, you rush out the back door just in time to meet your offspring at the bus stop or pick them up at school (if they missed the bus or have an afterschool activity). Then it’s homework (why do I feel like I’m taking algebra for the fourth time?) and more yelling. 

Dinner is slapped together. The tribe is fed something they might eat.  Then, finally, you sit down to watch a mindless ballgame or read a book (of course with perhaps a cocktail or two or five). And that is, of course, if the kids don’t have an extra activity or forgot a project due the next day or you don’t have a conference call. You get the kids put together, bathed and ready for the next day. Off to bed, they go.

You refill your wine glass and wonder why you’re so exhausted. 

On the weekends you are the social chairman, chief dishwasher, meal prepper for the week, laundry fairy, bookkeeper, travel agent, event planner, grocery shopper and head referee.

So, why are you tired? Because the superwoman persona is an impossible task to keep up over a long period of time. I know. Let me tell you about the day the “S” fell off my chest.

Let’s talk about adrenal fatigue…..Stay tuned for next week’s episode of Troubleshooting Fatigue. And yes, there is a cure and a happy outcome.