Your Strength Lies in Your Tenacity
I have been thinking about fatigue this week.
I have bouts of thriving enthusiasm and then a round of fatigue, as the days and weeks pass with more physical distancing and the events that keep getting ticked off the calendar that did not take place in their typical fashion, such as Easter.
On top of this, a milestone is nearing for me. As of May 1, my partner and I were going to start a six-week journey to drive from Ontario to Alberta to enjoy the company of family and friends. Along the way, we'd also planned to revel in the incredible landscape of our wonderful country.
I am trying to balance staying informed with not getting overloaded with the high volume of information around the pandemic. I am also trying to grasp the tragedy that happened in the wonderful province of Nova Scotia; it holds a special place in my heart and is a part of my family's heritage.
The end result: I am feeling fatigued from the circumstance we are in.
This has prompted me to think about a marathon runner 'hitting the wall' as a parallel as to what we are experiencing right now. There is no question that our current COVID-19 environment has NOT been a sprint, and it seems like we still have another chunk of time ahead of us.
I found this article about how to avoid hitting the wall in your next marathon penned by Marathonman.
Here are the tips of Marathonman; his name inspires me to follow the advice.
1. Get used to the distance;
2. Keep to a consistent pace;
3. Fuel your body properly.
"Get used to the distance" speaks to me in that we must get our minds around the amount of time that we have ahead of us before our leaders and health professionals feel that it is safe to lift restrictions.
As I have discussed in previous blogs, I am leaning into my faith that they have our best interests at heart. Since our taxes pay their salaries, I would think that they would want us back to work ASAP to get the economy rolling again.
I feel that letting my mind settle into the idea of being in 'this space in between' until later May and becoming okay with it (or as close as possible to it) is a healthier option than resisting it.
To me, "Keep to consistent pace" brings up the idea of not pushing to strive and expecting every day to be of my highest performance. But instead, I'm finding my pace or rhythm of doing/being that I can sustain for the length of this marathon.
"Fuel your body properly"...well, enough said about that. I am just going to back away from the fridge, not stop at the snack cupboard and fill my water bottle.
What can we do to get to the end of this marathon?
Be tenacious. Tenacity is the quality of being very determined.
"My strength lies solely in my tenacity."
-Louis Pasteur
