I’ve had a lot of time recently to consider the body’s adaptability. That is to say, I haven’t been getting very much sleep this week.
Pathetically enough, I think it’s time to cut out afternoon caffeine. Sunday I had a late coffee and didn’t close my eyes until 4 AM. Yesterday, I had a cinnamon tea at 6 PM and was up staring at the wall for the next 8 hours (actually, I took a break to go jogging. Because, you know–tea energy). Tonight, I went to an 8 PM dinner but in true Spanish-dinner style, walked back into my apartment at 12:28 AM. It’s good tomorrow is Friday because I don’t think my body can take much more of this.
Adaptability
But considering that I am adapting the sleeping patterns of a high-strung teenage girl, my body is actually adapting quite well. I’ve had a relatively steady energy level and have kept my patience with writing midterm comments (again) and grading approximately 317 pieces of student work. I even stayed at work until 6:30 PM today rather cheerfully because I felt (correctly) that I should likely read up on the lecture I’m giving tomorrow (spoiler alert: Introduction to Biodiversity).
Routines
The range of conditions the human body and brain can function at are genuinely staggering. We convince ourselves that all types of scenarios are “normal”: war, tax time, last call, homelessness. In the last 3 months I have trained myself to:
-wake up at 6:40 AM to practice the piano every day
-complete 20 minutes to 1 hour of writing every (other) day
-run 2-3 miles 2 times a week
-wake up and make 2 cups of instant coffee every morning
It looks completely different from my schedule last year, and exists in a different universe from my schedule 5 years ago. The point is, the schedule exists. I am generally able to convince myself that any scenario I may find myself in is pleasant and inviting, if not outright enjoyable.
Humans are as adaptable as we make up our minds to be. It’s a pretty lucky characteristic.
Off to bed.