Like Watching Hair Grow...

That's how long - or rather, how gradual is the loss of strength and flexibility.  Two weeks ago, we were in Japan.  The flight is a grueling affair, especially when you happen to miss a flight because of mechanical troubles.  Combined with a time lag of 12 hours, exhaustion from the trip itself, and a routine that does not permit time for a regular exercise program, and I found myself on my return home completely drained, not only of physical strength, but also of psychic strength.  All I wanted to do was sleep.  In such circumstances, the best remedy by far is to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, drink clear teas, take baths, read a salacious book and r-e-l-a-x.  But life has other plans.  My work was waiting for me, and the first day back, my computer crashed.  That wasn't the end of it - my mother had an accident, and we spent an afternoon in the emergency room.  They tell you to avoid stress, but hard as I try, stress sometimes finds me.  And in those circumstances, eating right and relaxing simply do not seem like available options.  I have been eating whatever I can get my hands on, haphazardly, on the run; I have been taking my morning walks, but my legs feel extremely weak, almost to the point of not holding me; my hips hurt; my neck hurts - it seems that my hair hurts! And is there anything I can do about this? Perhaps not actively.  Perhaps now is the time to let this stress sit on my lap like a brick, allow it to exist, embrace it, welcome it as a necessary part of life, don't resist it, indeed, ask it to walk alongside you as you go through the day.