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Get back up #AftertheFall

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Published on October 03, 2017 05:15

42

I have good news everyone.

I have finally accepted my inevitable mortality.

When you last heard from me I was sad that my body was slowing down.

Now, that I’m 42, I have finally accepted that’s it’s simply just how life is.

Here are a few things I’ve noticed:

Things you eat effect your mood and energy levels:

If I eat anything heavy for lunch I’m tired for the rest of the day. For example, I may find my wife’s leftover burrito in the fridge and I’ll decide to have it for lunch and then suddenly, BOOM, it’s lights out and I’m taking a nap. I used to eat whatever I wanted and not feel any of the effects, now I eat something heavy and suddenly my body says, “OK guys, we’re going to have to shut down all the other important functions of the body and divert all our energy into DIGESTING THIS BURGER.” My mood is adversely affected by this because I hate feeling tired and I get cranky.

I’ve made adjustments in my lifestyle so I don’t have to experience this fatigue. Now, I just eat salads and cereal or maybe a piece of plain chicken or fish.

You feel tired 70% of the time:

An old cell phone is the best metaphor I can think about being 42. You don’t hold a charge as long as you used to and when you do need to recharge you can only max out the battery at around 98% and then over the course of the day when your battery gets somewhere around 3-5% you might just spontaneously shut off. This leads to brain farting. I’ll talk to someone about a particular subject then suddenly my mind is a blank trying to find the name of a particular actress who played a role in a movie, or the name of ingredient that I need to add to a recipe.

“Hon, could you grab me the….. it’s leafy… green… it smells nice…. you use it
on pizzas sometimes…”

(10 minutes later)

“BASIL! I needed the basil…”

It’s also a struggle to stay up past 11PM. I remember in college when I would look up at a clock and say, “Oh, it’s only 1AM. It’s still early!” now I struggle to watch the opening monologue to SNL on Saturday nights. I drink coffee just to feel human again. Coffee has become an even more important life source for me. I wake up every morning and I feel like I’m only 80% awake. After my morning coffee I’ll be 95% awake.

Lance Armstrong used steroids to stay competitive.

I have caffeine.

I’m tired right now just writing this post.

I exercise just to give myself more energy, but the exercise isn’t as immediately rewarding as it used to be. It takes more effort to work off those extra five pounds you gained from eating the slice of pie, or the bacon you added to the burger and you ask yourself if it was worth it?

Yeah. It’s still worth it.

I don’t work as quickly as I used to:

I feel like it takes me twice as long to finish artwork. I always thought this was a problem for athletes and blue collar laborers but in truth, it also affects artists surprisingly enough. Even if I wanted to work harder I realized that my body has phoned it in.

ME: I must be slowing down because think I could have knocked out these
sketches in a few hours back in the day and now it’s taking me a week

BODY: Hey dude, remember all those years you pushed me to the brink of death?
Yeah, I’m done with all that. I’m calling the shots, now.

ME: Wait, let’s talk about thi-

BODY: SLEEEEEEEEEEEEP.

With all that said, what does that all mean to me?

I originally thought that I was in the middle of a midlife crisis, but in truth I think I am reaching the tail end of one, and I have finally reached a mental state of inner peace. I work at my own pace and deadlines don’t give me as much anxiety as they used to. I still hit my deadlines but I no longer work 14 hour work days, and surprisingly, I’m cool with it. Having a body that’s showing slight wear and tear has actually been a blessing to me. I no longer curse the car because it doesn’t work at optimal precision, I have finally just realized that the car has been sturdy, dependable, and still solid after many years. I just haven’t taken the time to appreciate it for what it once was.

Younger Dan would have been filled with frustration and rage, but now I’ve accepted my new physical condition and I’m happier.

This is not to say that I don’t still have ambition. The difference is that I work at my own pace, which is perhaps the greatest gift I have ever given myself in these 42 years of life.

I’m like the Millennium Falcon.

With a few minor adjustments, I’ve still got it where it counts.

“Come on baby, hold together.”

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Published on October 01, 2017 21:24