Exhaustion Day

Today, I am exhausted.  It feels like I was in a fight yesterday and got beat badly as every muscle aches.  My shoulders feel heavy and every movement takes energy that I don’t have. I am still always surprised by these days. They seem unreal to me -- a once super hyper energetic gal who did not know what to do with her energy. It is also hard to fathom how quickly my energy can change and super exhaustion can takeover.  Yesterday, I was able to make it to the grocery store in the morning and then in the evening walk a few blocks and grab dinner with my husband and walk back home.  I was quite happy even excited that we were able to do something “normal” and spontaneous like we used to before I got sick. But today is a completely different ball game. I don’t have the energy to leave our house and lying down is the only position that is comfortable. 

When these awful days, coincide with football – I am thankful.  TGFF (Thank Goodness for Football). From growing up, my dad was always a huge sports fan and he passed the gene along to me.  We watched lots of basketball and baseball and went to a fair number of games.  But football was never a particular favorite, until I met my husband who is an avid Giants fan.  Now, I would rank it as my favorite professional sport to watch on TV and it is tied with March Madness.  So why is football therapeutic on these exhaustion days?

Even though I am unable to move, I can root for these aggressive guys doing everything to win.  The games are exciting with Hail Mary passes, interceptions, and turnovers and the winner of the game can often be determined with 60 seconds left in the game. It’s fun to be able to talk to my husband when he comes back from a game about something he is so excited about.  Take the Saints versus 49ers playoff game (probably one of the most amazing games of the season), where both teams scored touchdowns within the last two minutes of the game. It didn’t end until Alex Smith put San Francisco on top with 9 seconds left.   I got sucked into the excitement of the game and felt a part of something both communal and energetic.  A welcome reprieve from feeling bad about my exhaustion, even though I never had to leave the couch. 

So it is with great anticipation that I get ready to watch the Giants (my favorite team) play the Patriots in this Sunday’s Super Bowl in a rematch of Super Bowl XLII, but once the season is over I will surely miss how football fills some of my exhaustion days with vicarious energy. 




















*Photo from Google Images*