Hi! My name is Chris and I’m exhausted. In fact, the idea of just writing this article makes me want to lay back down and take a nap. Hold on. I’ll be right back.
OK, that’s better. My name is Chris and I love naps! And caffeine. And going to bed at night (my favorite part of the day!). I’m in my 40’s, have a beautiful wife, two amazing children, and a great job. Life is good! But there is one, pervasive problem: it feels like I’m always tired.
My family calls me a ‘lazy lion’. Usually, I laugh about this, but sometimes it hurts. I want to spend more time with my kids. I don’t like falling asleep at night on the sofa while watching a show with my wife. I want to be more energized at work. But is this really a problem? I work hard. Maybe this is a normal amount of tired?
It was hard to tell when I was younger. I played a lot of sports, but was neither the best nor the worst. As I grew older, some of my friends made fun of how early I fell asleep at night, but they were my friends – they were supposed to make fun of me. As an adult, I worked hard, got promoted, became a CIO, was appointed by a Governor to run an agency, had 2,000 employees, and a multi-billion dollar budget. I must have had enough energy to do this well, right?
Unfortunately, I was downing so much caffeine every day to keep up with the demands of this job that I began to get heart palpitations. At the height of my heart troubles, I was counting 20 arrhythmias per minute. Not good.
At the same time, two other things happened that woke me up: my father became bed-ridden and my four-year old son had dark rings under his eyes. I suddenly realized that the energy problem that was plaguing me was also affecting my father and my son. It wasn’t about me anymore.
Isn’t it strange how poorly we will take care of ourselves, but as soon as our love ones are affected, we suddenly care?
I finally woke up and began to research energy – how we make it, what affects it, and how we can gain better control over it. This website and the upcoming book are the documentation of that journey.
When I am not napping, I have always enjoyed reading and writing as my favorite hobbies. I am a proud member of the Non-Fiction Authors Association.