I had to add a "C" to work so that my title would alliterate well, but I assure you, Cwork is just as fun as real work. A coworker had a wedding on Saturday, so a lot of the employees who had been there for a number of years sent in time-off requests. As a result, The Piebald Penguin had the privilege of working his first double shift at this job. 10 am - 10 pm. It was a long day with very few breaks, and I was exceptionally tired at the end. Still, you won't here me complain about it because I made a decent amount of money.
Caffeine
The main focus of this post will be on the legal drug known as caffeine. A stimulant that affects the central nervous system, caffeine increases a person's alertness and helps fight many of the common side effects caused by sleep deprivation. According to Wikipedia, roughly 90% of Americans consume caffeine, in one form or another, daily. We are a culture built around pushing ourselves to the limits. Some societies have developed other ways to combat fatigue, such as the mid-afternoon siestas in Spain, but citizens of the United States of America could never settle for such a slow lifestyle. I bring up caffeine because that is certainly how I had the strength to get through 12 hours of non-stop action at work. I don't have the luxury of sitting in a chair at work, nor do we even get a lunch break to stop and breathe. Once I clock in, it's go, go, go until the end. Still, my job is not mentally taxing, giving me plenty of time to ponder the great mysteries of life. The one that I mulled over in my mind that night was one that I think about on occasion...
College
That mystery has been with me since college. It's this: what is the purpose of college? See, for me, college played a vital role in my life, but not because I got a piece of paper at the end of 4 years saying that I can add, subtract, integrate and confound lesser men with my skills in logic. Rather, college forced me to develop a keen sense of what my body can and cannot do. It's a well-documented fact that the human body has limits. In college, I witness a good number of people who pushed those limits every single day. And you could tell by simply gazing at their worn, haggard faces and their slumped shoulders. You could tell that each step was a nightmare, each second passed even more painstakingly than the last. Then, there were others who shied away from pushing their bodies at all. They would complain that 10pm was their strict bedtime. A slight disruption in their eating schedule made them cranky and unbearable.
The former person obviously lives an unhealthy lifestyle due to the consistent strain he places on his body. Eventually this person will actually cause permanent damage to his body and that is not desirable in any given situation. The latter individual also lives an unhealthy lifestyle. Simply put, in the likely event that this person is subjected to any amount of physical or emotional strain, said person's body will be not be prepared to handle the stress of the situation. This could easily lead to the person shutting down in the midst of a crisis, or simply being unable to focus during a test following a late night of studying.
Thus, college is an important time in anyone's life. It should teach him how to handle stress. How to push his body to the limits, but also how to rest, relax, and let the worries of the world fall harmlessly at his feet. For me, I found a place of balance. I learned what my normal limits were, and I learned what I could do with stimulants, such as caffeine and sugar. I also learned how much rest I needed after pushing my body passed the norm, and I sincerely believe that this was one of the greatest lessons that I learned in college. Because this lesson is one that I can apply to the rest of my life.
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| I bet this guy regretted not having that cup of coffee... |
As the seasons change, life changes too. Sit back, relax, and enjoy. = )
~TPP
