This has been the general theme of the past two weeks. I want to be more active and do more things, and at the same time I also don’t want to do anything because my energy is zapped. It’s too hot for me. So I default to the couch and the television. Not that there aren’t other things I could do doing inside instead. I still write every morning and read in the evening. Yet something has happened in my mind that when it’s hot, suddenly even these things that I enjoy doing are just too much effort. I want to be on the couch. I have a lack of energy this summer.
At least now I recognise what is happening. Heat does zap my energy. Okay, that’s just how it is. But I can’t continue to not do things. I don’t want to look back in autumn and realise that there were a lot of things that I could have done and accomplished in the current months that we are in.
There will need to be a comprise. I know without a doubt that I will not go outdoors in the heat of the day. I also haven’t stopped doing things either. I’ll still get to the gym and complete my morning routine and rhythm.
On weekends we’ll still go for a walk in the early hours of the morning (generally we are out the door by 5:15am). It’s that middle arc of the day when it’s 35C plus that I become a couch potato and all of the discipline goes and I suddenly have a lack of energy.
What are some activities I can be doing? For staters, I want to continue to move. One thing that my wife and I were doing consistently before the extreme heat was to go to our local shopping centre in the afternoon and walk laps in the air conditioning. We can continue to do that.
I can also continue to read and write. We can play board games. I can complete a WoW quest. We can plan our next super couple brunch, or a weekend away from March onwards. We can do chores around the house. Right now I feel like I have to drag my feet to make myself do any of these things.
It’s it interesting how there is a set temperature point where we just get over it and lose all interest? We suddenly have a lack of energy.
Recently, we met some friends at Garden City and went for a walk. It was a great way to catch up. My energy was reignited. It was in the calendar so it just happened. Sometimes we just have to go and do the thing. It falls back to general advice in my own day to day life. We need to do hard things. You just need to start. My crux right now is the temperature. I just need to start by continuing to do the things I like to do, modified so it’s heat appropriate. Do laps around the shopping centre. Catch up with others. Read. Write. Create. Play.
It’s simple. It’s hard at the same time. Sometimes we just hit a slump. We need to pause, take a step back, reassess, present the reset button, and do things. Even if it’s hard in the heat. In some ways, that’s the point. We have to continue to do hard things.