Saturday, February 11, 2006

Exhaustion

Dictionary.com defines it as "extreme fatigue." The example states: The runner collapsed from exhaustion. I think this example sentence is a huge oversight on the part of the dictionary.com. It should read "The teacher collapsed from exhaustion."

Last night, I got home, ate dinner, and then changed into my soccer uniform to get ready for my game. Three hours later, I woke up on the living room floor in my soccer uniform. I called my mom to laugh/cry at the realization that I had slept through my soccer game, then promptly fell back to sleep. And though my sleep was interrupted by phone calls at 10:00, 12:00, 1:30, and 8:30, I didn't leave my bed until about 10:30 this morning.

And it's not just me. Almost every teacher I know here deals with this level of exhaustion from time to time. I used to have a crazy-stressful desk job where I worked absurd amounts of overtime, yet I never got this tired. Which got me to thinking that my last job was extremely mentally taxing, but required almost none of my physical or emotional energy. Teaching, on the other hand, requires all three to be at topnotch performance at all times.

Then I look at some of my friends who are married and/or have kids. I have absolutely no clue how they do it. For me, at least, my personal life is coming to a halt for today, despite a friend's birthday, a play, and a lunch invitation to a great restaurant in Flushing. After a little blogging, it's time for another nap. Pathetic...

2 comments:

Paul said...

I taught screenwriting part-time to college student. I gave it my all and came home spent. Here's to teachers!

Anonymous said...

So true. When I was a teacher, the only way I could manage to go out on Friday nights was not to go home first. Because if I went home, I'd inevitably lie down "for a few minutes" and wake up many hours later.