Two Fridays ago, I traveled down to Atlanta to spend time with my brother, my sister in law, and my dad. It was a solid trip. I had a great time, and also got to hang out with my buddy Sonny, my brother’s awesome mom and sisters, and a few other family members. My brother Evan got his first tattoo, and it meant a lot that he took me with him (to say nothing of the fact that it’s a replica of the tattoo I got after I met him, of the Ghanian symbol sankofa).
When I left NYC, it was still very much winter, and in Atlanta, it may have been a little bit cooler than normal, but it still felt very much springlike. I arrived back home to some unseasonably warm weather, and almost immediately, those familiar signs of spring allergies reared their heads: itchy face, sneezing, sniffling. I got through the remainder of the week feeling fairly okay beyond that, despite some additional stress caused by a) family drama b) a relationship breakup and c) my first paid coaching assignment.
Last Saturday night, I had people over, and I felt a little off but not so off that I wanted to cancel. I tested (negative) for COVID and entertained company. The next day, I should have rested, but I went out on a date (meh…), still dragging a bit from the night before. My intuition was telling me that I needed some rest, but my brain was still on some “go! go! go!” shit.
After work Monday, I organized a dinner with some friends to celebrate my co-worker Matt’s birthday. I came home, went to bed, and slept…not at all. My allergies had grown so severe that I could barely breathe from my nose. So I tossed and turned and went into the office Tuesday, fueled by caffeine. Got through the day and then the intention was to go to a Nets game with my buddy Shane for his birthday (what’s up with the March birthdays, people?) We couldn’t find affordable tickets (and I stood in front of Barclays Center for at least a half hour and froze my ass off), so we ended up going to dinner. Another fairly late night with no real wind down time, but I did pick up Benadryl, nasal spray and breathing strips. I was also beginning to think that what I was feeling was not strictly allergy-related.
Worked all day Wednesday, then met up with my old co-workers Tim and Jonathan for a drink. I should’ve postponed or cancelled, but we’d already pivoted twice (at least) and I figured getting through the meet up at half speed was better than cancelling or postponing again. I got home, didn’t even have an appetite to eat dinner (and just for the record, y’all, I consumed one alcoholic beverage all three nights combined), fell asleep.
Woke up Thursday morning and my body was like “nigga…”
I should know better. I do know better. I will do better going forward. But it’s hard to say no to people I care about, even if I realize my body (and my wallet) might have benefited from saying no or at least “not right now” to one of those people. I didn’t even go into the office Thursday, as “allergies” had progressed to my inhaling/exhaling sounding like someone was opening a bag of potato chips in my chest and I felt like someone was punching out from inside my body every time I coughed. My buddy Chris came over Thursday morning to drop off some Gatorade after his guitar lesson and was like “dude, that sounds like bronchitis”.
Ah, right. I’m generally good for at least one dalliance with bronchitis every year. How’d I miss that one?
So, here we are. It’s Friday night. Thankfully, my cough improved overnight and didn’t require the visit to urgent care that I was anticipating. I got through the work day, recorded one pod episode at 6, and now I’m hibernating for at least the next 24 or so hours (beyond one coffee date that may or may not happen).
We talk about self-care a lot. I talk about self-care a lot. I need to practice what I preach more, and like I said, it’s hard to not only turn down face time with people I care about but it’s hard to turn down activities that should be fun! But they’re not as fun when you’re exhausted. And the older I get, the more my body forces me to pay when I don’t listen to it.