Today, during 6th period, my left eye started to twitch. It was involuntary and scared the hell out of me, and is a good reminder of how stressed out I am this week. Fired. Re-hired. Conflicts with students. Conflicts with administrators. Long, long hours. Very little sleep because my schedule is still messed up from New Year's.
The twitch hit me with a bit of the thud that I'm going to die at 50 of a heart attack if I keep this up. I'm not sure why I'm working so hard, or why I'm so stressed. It has a lot to do with lack of sleep and exercise, I'm sure, but also with the fact that I haven't slowed down at all in the last several weeks. My "vacation" wasn't much of one - too much traveling, too short. This weekend, one I desperately need, is filled with three shifts at the restaurant. It's like I'm tumbling through the air and don't ever have enough time to right myself.
Generally, I'm not a very stressed out individual. I'm on the even keel most of the time. So, when I do get stressed, I think it's a pretty damn big deal - and so does my body, apparently, since I got a twitch.
I went into the restaurant for a shift tonight, and learned the news that I'd be closing tonight. That's a 7am until 1am day. Since I work at 8am tomorrow, this made me want to cry. Instead, I begged and pleaded a co-worker to close for me, and now I'm home at the decent hour of 10:30. I work 8-5 tomorrow and 9:30-5 on Sunday. I'm the hardest working man in Baltimore, but I owe just $573 on my car and I think I'm about ready to call it quits.
The other thing that hit me today is the amount of coffee I'm drinking. I start everyday with a trip to 7-11, where I fill up my 32-oz coffee mug for $1.00. That usually does me, but today I had a sugar-free energy drink with lunch, and then, at the restaurant, I proceeded to drink two pints of coffee. I drink coffee there more out of boredom than anything else. However, I added it all up, and basically figured out that I've drank roughly nine cups of coffee today, and therefore should be dead or something.
I need to get myself healthy, pronto. I'm out of control with the stress, the caffeine, the lack of sleep, and the lack of exercise.
No Contest
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Richard Linklater‘s Before Midnight, which opens Friday, has one of the
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7 comments:
Quit that job, man.
Yep, quit the second job. And use a few more dittos at school.
I agree quit the job. If you really still need extra money (and who doesn't?) can you do tutoring? I don't know what your school population is, but I can charge $40- $50 an hour to tutor kids (I don't currently tutor, but I have in the past). Another less stressful job is to work in a bookstore or Teacher store - they also aren't open the same hours as the restaurant :)
Good luck and get rest - take a Mental Health Day next week - you need it.
I concur with what has been said by previous posters.
Rest and exercise are the two most important things I do every day as a teacher. As James Brown would say, "get on the good foot."
You might be twitching because of the sheer quantity of caffeine in your system!
Karen: I've always been able to do the second job these last four years because it's something different from teaching. It's almost like I'd feel guilty about getting paid to tutor kids. I already feel like I don't have enough time for my own.
I'm doing a lot better today than I was when I wrote the entry, but thanks for the advice on the bookstore. It's a good piece of advice to take a mental health day or a job at a bookstore. And I've thought about it before. I just sort of relish the doing-something-completely-different thing. Often I do, at least.
Tiffany: I definitely think your onto something.
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