I’m one of those people. You know, those annoying people who rigorously move around for 5 minutes and get an endorphin release big enough to conquer the world. Some close to me find this annoying. They ask me to slow down. To prioritize and plod through instead of busting through my self created list at a million miles per hour with my hair on fire. Sometimes I can’t help it and do it anyways whereas other times I drag it along out of respect for their request.
We’re 3 weeks into virtual school. A nice cozy bonding experience of my kids sharing the kitchen table and working together while singing Kumbaya was a flop in the spring. It may have been exacerbated by our puppy who regularly stole their work from the table running at warp speed into the living room to tear it apart.
We’re now in separate rooms with individual desks, individual schedules, individual learning styles and 3 individual schools. I wish I had a clone, but for now I don’t. You could guess that I’m getting my steps in. While downstairs helping one, I hear from upstairs, “Mom, something’s wrong with my computer. Help” or “Mom, I left my book in the basement. Can you bring it up to me?” I’m pretty sure I’ve climbed the equivalent of Everest in the last 3 weeks.
This is hard. It’s one of the harder things I’ve ever done. You’re invested. You’re committed. You want them to succeed even in this less than ideal environment. So it’s emotional too.
Enter exercise. My tried and true means of finding peace and balance. Those who know me well might laugh and say, when are you exercising? You’re not one of those people committed to a group or program or even a health club. You’d be right but when I need those endorphins, I make the time to exercise and it works. Every. Single. Time.
This time it’s not working. When will I hit my stride?
The stress of living this hectic, high demand virtual lifestyle out of your home has tipped the scale heavily towards hopelessness. I can’t merely go on a quick walk with the dog around my favorite pond or do a virtual dance class or hop on my bike and have the weight of the situation disappear in mere seconds. It takes more to feel balanced. You have to dig deeper.
So do it, I tell myself. Do whatever it takes to make it work. There is no other way to climb out of this hole than to go up. Some days you’ll slip and fall down, but jump back up and start climbing. One day, we’ll all get there and I cannot wait for that party. It’ll be epic, as my kids say.
Lyndsey Battaglia 