Sometimes, you need to stop and smell the flowers…
Its been some time since my last post. Lots of things have happened since then, urging me to put this little post together. So you will ask, what's up with the funny title? Well.. If you look at my last post, you'd see that my current project situation had been particularly challenging, time and energy wise. A lot of overtime and travelling was required and a lot of issues had come up with my client (for some peculiar reason..). And for some weird reason I was enjoying it. The adrenalin rush every morning woke me up and the multiple coffees kept me going throughout the day. My dark circles started to reappear, I started feeling exhausted, my body was complaining.
But, when you work like that the whole week, you need a weekend to let the steam out. That was the weekend in Athens, two days of coffees, seeing old friends, having fun but at a price.. Again, 4 hours max of sleep a day.. And a return trip to greece over two days. Well, so what, I've done that before, there was no problem! Exactly, there should be none; but things dont always go as planned.
As much as I believe that I am still 20, I am not.. It is not the age; for crying out loud, I am just 25, but my physical condition is not the same any more. The boy that spent the better half of his day at the gym at 20, is a grown up man now that has to work and deal with real issues and problems. And these can suck every bit of energy out of you. Not to mention time.... So yes, I admit, my physical condition is going down the drain...
Put all that together and you have a recipe for disaster.. Stress, coffees, sleeplessness, alcohol and weaker body and you can wonder for how long someone can last.. Well this someone has found his limits. On Wednesday morning, I paid my visits to Tooting Hospital (I think...) covered in blood, holding several bags of ice cubes on my face and fearing for my health. For those who dont know, fainting in front of 8-9 steps can be quite damaging!! I was considering myself lucky that I didn't break anything; my neck was sore but was still in one piece, my head was bruised but I could still remember who i was, my lips were hurt but my teeth were OK... One thing was worrying me and that was my heart. One very close friend of mine was having anxiety issues, with chest pains and that rung a couple of bells! Also, these things dont happen to 25 year olds... No matter how tired they are. Or do they...?
Well, after going through a thorough scan, chest and head x-rays, CAT scans, heart electrograms, blood tests and a full check up, the doctors were puzzled. They couldn't find anything that justified this. There was nothing wrong with me and fortunately all the injuries were superficial, besides my nose injury that required a stich (well they actually used superglue to put it together!!!). The answer was obvious.. Exhaustion.
Having said that, chatting with one of my friends today, she also had an accident at the tube, while running to catch the train... Well. Things here have one great similarity. Guys, understand that our body is a temple where we live in. You dont go on setting fire and breaking the windows of your house, do you? People need to relax. Especially in freaking London. I was going down the tube today and could see hundreds of "busy" people rushing down the stairs, passing by and looking at me because I was just having a stroll. Well, plan better next time so that you dont have to rush. And what will you gain by running? One minute? Two minutes? What is so important that cannot wait for two minutes? Nothing. Because being nervous like that and stressing yourself for all those self imposed deadlines wears you out. You will die younger because you did not plan well or because you wanted to be punctual. Put things in perspective. Is it really worth it?
So as I said in the title..
Sometimes, you need to stop and smell the flowers.
Cause we have forgotten what really means in our lives. It might have taken a good bump in the head to make me realise it, but I can now see it.
