Anyone who knows me well knows that I despise when people say they are "exhausted." To me, it is a phrase you should only use if you are about to fall down and pass out due to complete and utter fatigue and debilitation. Maybe you just ran a full marathon without much training; ok, you are probably exhausted. I believe you. Own the word. But if you had to work one hour late yesterday and then got stuck on the phone talking to your mom and didn’t have a chance to run the dishwasher and your barking dog woke you up at 3 a.m. for 10 seconds, well that's just life.
And that's the point—it's just life. We are all busy. There are not enough hours in the day. We get tired through the week. We don't get things done. We over-commit. We totally forget to feed the dog. I mean, I'm serious, we realized at 11:30 p.m. last night that Roxy hadn't eaten all day, we were out of dog food, and we wouldn't be able to get to the store until after work tonight. I'm stopping by Giant Eagle here in another 20 minutes. Last time this happened I had to give the poor thing freezer-burned hot dogs to tide her over.
(I promise we do feed our child...regularly)
But life does get complicated. We all experience it it many different ways. And I many times have to remind myself to just stop and enjoy what is going on at that very moment and push all the craziness aside. Because my brain is always going 100 m.p.h., thinking of "to do" lists, worrying about what I haven't accomplished yet in the day and planning ahead to what's next. But I need to become better at living in the present. I really am trying.
During my lunch hour today, I walked along the new Scioto Mile park. It's a new Columbus gem, and it was so great to see people out enjoying the sunshine, ornately landscaped walkway and water fountains. And as I moved passed the random whiffs of smelly river water and the cross-dresser attempting to walk in unmatched heels of completely different heights, I looked across to COSI and could see its Farm Days exhibit. I immediately thought of Mac and his new obsession with tractors—he says "tractor" and it is THE cutest thing in the world, IMHO—and I watched as kids of all ages ran around the large farm equipment. I took it all in; it was a very simple moment. But I realized it was the first time—in a long time—that I just stopped and ignored the crazy side of my life for once. It was amazing. And a little sad.
So now I can't wait to get home and give my full, complete, undivided attention to my little cutie pie and repeatedly ask him to say "tractor." Because right now, I unequivocally feel exhausted. And I need to snap out of it.
(note: I do not mean to trivialize true personal distress that some may be going through; only to poke fun at those (including myself), who routinely interchange "kinda tired" with "exhausted.")
Love it!
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