I’ve not slept well all week, and apparently the kind person at CVS’s Minute Clinic informed me that acute bronchitis might have something do with it… that, and I should “probably do something about the high blood pressure” as well.
“You sound stressed,” she said as she was typing all the details into her computer.
I responded with a sly smile. “What about yoga? Maybe I should meditate, too?” I could tell she smiled sarcastically in return under her mask. Katie, MSN, MHA, FNP-C, was not in a mood for jokes. “So you’re just here for the Tessalon?” 🤨
She’s probably right. I am stressed. And need to rest. For real.
Sleep is key to mitigate stress, and normally, I get 7-9 hours each night good sleep. But when your body is sick – either from physical ailments, mental pressures, or emotional challenges – that sleep turns into a few minutes here and there, in between bouts of restless struggle.
The need to actually rest, and effectively so, is paramount to longterm performance.
“How was spring break?” What break? It’s been 100MPH as usual catching up on projects, managing stuff that happens when school’s still in session from an operations perspective. Katie told me to stay home Friday. I slept almost all day. “Is dad okay?”
It’s hard to find the line, and when you cross it, you’ve gone too hard, too fast, and spent too many resources. I found it Thursday after a mentally grueling performance event. I was spent. Tired. Needed relief. And found it, finally.
Take the time it takes to get well. Don’t push too hard. It’s probably not worth it in the long-term.
❤️ And, apparently “we” want to be below 120 / 80 nowadays… 138 / 82 was of “some concern” to Katie at CVS. “Has it been like this for a while?” Yep.
-Andreas