When you drink too much, you get a hangover.
When you stay up way too late, you’re tired the next day.
When you eat too much, you get full and uncomfortable.
There are always consequences.
You may not like it. You definitely don’t want it. But the consequence is there just the same.
One of my favorite facts is this: “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” It comes from the study of physics.
Scientific or not, I like to apply it to everything from human relationships to the way my body reacts under stress.
The reaction may not come out in the way that I’m expecting it, but there’s always something.
In my last post, I explained how I thought ahead to the fancy wedding I was attending, to make sure I had food for the day. That definitely helped cut down on unhelpful consequences like hanger and anxiety.
That wedding also included things like dancing (I’m recovering from pneumonia), talking to lots of people (introvert), and sitting in the sun next to a field of grass (hello, pale skin and seasonal allergies).
When you think ahead, you can usually head off some of the worst consequences my moderating yourself in the moment. Rest after dancing. Take a walk by yourself. Sunscreen and Claritin. Drink water.
Even when you’re taking care of the little things, they still add up.
The next day you wake up with a pollen hangover.
Maybe you’re a little bit dehydrated.
Or you have a sunburn.
Those things take a little while to recover from. And that’s okay.
Make sure to plan for it!
Don’t pretend that you can muscle through it, because you can’t always do that. Take a half day off work, or work from home if you can. If that’s not an option, take into account recovery time when you’re asking for time off or swapping shifts with your coworkers.
Make sure to have water and aloe lotion in the house, so you don’t have to expend extra energy to go get them, energy you could be spending on recovering.
Cook yourself the equivalent of a greasy breakfast and coffee, make sure to stay hydrated, and ride out that hangover.
Expect it. Embrace it. Realize its inevitability and just let it be.