I had struggled to go up the stairs to my flat, I had been out of breath as I unlocked the door
to enter the house after another mundane day of being busy from 8-5.
The being out of breath had been for quite some months but I never thought it could so serious as to cause me to collapse upon getting home from work on Thursday 5th March 2015. I in fact attributed it to my not being as dedicated to my training schedules as I was during my rugby playing days.
Truth be told, I never saw it coming until I hit the ground, quite literally, head first after getting home from what was a regular day at work.
There I was, out for a few seconds before I came to. I reached out to feel my forehead, I was probably checking to see if my head was still intact, if there was any blood gushing from a wound but fortunately there was neither blood gushing nor a wound to speak of.
The debris from my fall was less ghastly that I imagined, only a fallen flower pot to speak of.
This is when many things started flashing through my mind, what if the effects of my fall were worse than I thought, what if I never got up from the fall. There were very many questions racing through my head.
A few calls here and there, and after a long conversation with my conscience, I headed out to seek
medical attention.
After a barrage of tests and a few things, probably more, came up. Issues with blood pressure, my weight shooting up to 100kg, issues with not taking time off work to just let loose and enjoy myself.
Walking time bomb is what I deciphered from the doctor’s scribbles. Either the fall or stress would be the end of me, one day, someday, if I didn’t initiate changes of a lifestyle kind.
Wow! That’s when it hit me.I have been slaving away while neglecting myself. No time to let loose, not taking care of my body, my health, all in the name of keeping busy, all in the name of chasing paper.
Work, work, work has been my mantra.
Simply put, I need to strike a balance between work and life. It’s not easy, but at least I’m taking steps towards that by exercising more, relaxing more. A few challenges lie along the way though, most notably fighting the compulsion to work when it is chill out time and reviewing my weight downwards.
Every so often I think about that fall in the house and get more determined to strike that balance between work and life.
