Endorphins for the Road

Meeting up with various people today in my daily workplace, at the local cafe, on the train, at the pharmacy, I couldn't help but notice a common theme: stress. 

Two at least responded 'It's going', when asked 'How's it going?' These were people who knew me by the way. Not strangers. So everyone is stressed. The guy at the cafe told me about how he starts his college assignments late at night after working until almost 10:00pm here. A colleague tells me they find their work space annoying. My friend says she can't find time to exercise and her son's fussy habits are testing her nerves. A business associate complains about the commute and poor infrastructure. Sprinkled in among the complaints are a few people - they happen to be clients of mine who are working various eating and exercise programs, the ones with scary names like P90x and PiYo. Sounds like a virus out of that Brad Pitt zombie movie, right? Now there's no science behind what I'm blogging here- pure anecdotal notation, and I'm not trying to convince you of anything this evening, just simply sharing one day's observation.

So this handful of clients of mine still mention things that could qualify as stressors, but they're talking about it with a smile on their face! Are they on drugs? In a sense - yes. It's called endorphins and a clean gut. 

They scheduled a workout, maybe all or some checked in with me, or someone, about getting it done , and they're pushing through the day on more than just coffee . I'm going to call this 'coping'. 

Here I was marveling at the attitude spectrum of these individuals who were facing stress, yet managing because they had stuck to a clean plate and gotten in some exercise during the day. And then I came to me. I had ended up with a smile on my face in the morning too. How this was is difficult to imagine. 

I'm sure you can commiserate with being a working professional, pounding the keyboard tray, talking on the phone, sitting with your back rounded, maybe not even getting up to eat or take breaks properly

. 

Can you remember a day that was so stressful you thought you couldn't withstand another moment? That you could barely get a proper breathe in? A day where it took every molecule of chutzpah left running through that beat up shell of a bean counter to get to work?

I was one of these happy idiots as you might call it - smiling and cheerfully greeting people I knew in the morning, talking as I did on the way. I even started envisioning a positive conversation before it ever occurred! I had survived the night before, one of intense emotional fire storm from what I'll term the ' dark side' - the energy vampires, another colleague calls these 'bank robbers' .

I still turn to my body in the morning, I face towards what I know, what I can do. I can plank, grunt, throw a punch, squat, sweat, split, sprint, jump, and I can eat right. I can fuel up and do another round. But not sleepwalking through the day. I'm still shell- shocked from the night's conflict before, but the beauty of home base in the morning, it's enough to give you goose bumps. I know now it's love of yourself. It's leaning on yourself. It's getting intoxicated in your own analgesics. The perception of pain is lessened. 

Love in the solitude of your workout room. Endorphins for the road.