Exhaustion

Good morning.

Have you ever been so physically exhausted that it actually keeps you from sleeping? Think about it. Now, have you ever been so mentally enthused and energetic and excited that you can't sleep? Ponder that. Now, have you ever been physically exhausted to the point of sleep deprivation and so keyed up in your mind that it also keeps you from sleep?

This is me right now. This is me that gets up at 6:15am after about 5 hours sleep, runs around all day on campus, runs after students, smiles at students, encourages students, gets amazed by students, gets amazed by her director, her husband, her fellow PCs. This is me that at 6:15pm, after being on my feet for more or less 12 hours, is still more than willing to do whatever a student wants. You want to run? Let's go. You want to play basketball? Get ready to get schooled. You need help with homework? Let's see what you got. This is me right now and I am exhausted and a touch incoherent and right now I would not have it any other way.

Last night, with my body so stiff from exhaustion, I lay here running the day over and over in my head, really excited for the next day, ready to see how our students handle every day. This camp will get progressively harder for them, as their workload increases. They will have to make some very tough decisions, like, do I go to the rec center or do I stay here and finish my paper? Do I go to the hill or do I get much needed help in physics? These are hard things for them, but it is what they will face when they get to college and hopefully they will get a head start on finding a balance between work and play.

This is fun. It is so much fun! Right now my vision is a little blurred I am so tired but my outlook has not changed. I wish everyone could have an experience like this.

We have an amazing group of students here and if I had to characterize them in one word, I would say they are kind. They are engaging and caring and I seldom see a student pass another student, a PC, a stranger, without a hello or how are you or some sort of acknowledgment. I found a quote that made me think of the kids and how they are already living what it says, and it is with this quote that I will leave you:

"Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can muster and do it with no thought of reward. Your life will never be the same again."
-Og Mandino