Stamina

I've always been somewhat of a work horse. I have always drunk from the fire hose vs the water fountain. In high school I played sports in addition to my studies. I always insisted on making As and wound up salutatorian missing an A by one point in the final semester in my favorite subject, history, that would have made me valedictorian. That memory always gets me.

In college I found the same fire hose. I was married, had a baby, took a full course load, worked 20 hours a week, and managed to graduate in 3 years. Again my grades were highly important to me, and I graduated magna cum laude. Juggling was something that just came naturally.

When I started my job with the bank, I was one of the very few that had a child. Networking and working long hours were always very important to success, and I sometimes didn't get to do that because of child care issues. But through the years we found close friends to watch the girls. I put in many 60 and 70 hour weeks.

Moving to the mountains and co-owning my own business has been somewhat of a slower pace, but still fairly challenging. I don't work the long hours that I once did behind a desk. Doing massage is far more physical demanding though. I have some days that I wonder if I'll be able to move the next day.

The older I get, the less I'm able to keep up. The stamina that I once had is slowly dwindling. When you use your body as a tool, it eventually retaliates. This cold weather has reminded me I'm not 16 anymore. But that doesn't keep me from telling people I am. Maybe if I say it enough times, my body will listen.