When I hit the wall several months ago, I remember reminding myself during a time of prayer, “I’m not invincible.” At the time, I was pushing it pretty hard, physically (doing 30,000 steps/day as part of a 21-day national Virgin HealthMiles challenge). And, basically, I had been living on adrenaline, because that’s the only way I knew how to live.
Last Friday, which marked six months since the beginning of this journey, I found myself repeating the phrase, reminding myself, “I’m not invincible!”
I’ve been feeling much better over the last four to six weeks, so much so that I allowed some of my old habits (not resting enough, not playing enough, not disengaging enough, etc.) to creep back in. So, I experienced a relapse last week (at the time, I was doing some major troubleshooting on the blog when I should have been resting).
In his book, Leading on Empty, which I’ve written about (see “Leading on Empty”), Wayne Cordeiro warns readers to beware of relapses. So, I should’ve known better.
I have to be intentional about taking care of myself. This is harder to do when I feel well, physically and emotionally. I have to remember that an improvement in my physical and creative energy levels is not an invitation to push the limits. I need to pace myself. No one can continue to push it for long before eventually hitting the wall. And, once you hit the wall, it takes some time to fully recover. I have to keep reminding myself, life is a marathon, not a sprint.
And I am not invincible!