My Mental Gymnast has a Broken Leg

There have been days (seemingly an increasing number as of late) where I seem unable to think properly. I catch myself staring gormlessly at the computer screen when I should be doing work.
I have to will myself to think and even then willing isn’t enough; I need to perform mental gymnastics but apparently, my gymnast has broken a leg.

Some times, I head down a logic path for a certain length of time before I decide I’m so turned around that throwing out the solution entirely is easier than trying to figure out where I went wrong. Maybe this is less of a broken leg and more of a large cramp.

I don’t know what causes me to have brain-dead days; maybe lack of sleep, lack of exercise, or lack of proper nutrition. I hear fish is brain food, maybe I need to be more piscivorous (turn up the tuna and let the intelligence flow; maybe then things would go more swimmingly).

This psychological paralysis is not limited to my working life, alas, no. It also pervades my blogging and emailing existence too. Many a time I have had an idea for a blog that I have been unable to evolve past infancy due to lack of mental acuity. The idea languishes and dies or, under more ideal circumstances, is resurrected weeks later when my “creative juices” have reconstituted themselves.

I take come comfort in knowing that everyone I have talked to about this has days like these, I am not alone in having this apparent shortcoming.

Yet it still frustrates me. It frustrates me because I like forward progress. I like accomplishing things. Is this desire for forward progress something the majority of people share? Or is it just a few of us who go slowly (or not so slowly) crazy due to lack of progress – or is it just me?

Why do I feel the need for forward progress? Why not be content to just mentally limp through the day, accomplishing little; I’m still getting paid, heck I might even learn something from the faltering pace. And yet it still annoys me.

Maybe I feel life is passing me by – making progress justifies my day – justifies my existence; if I’m just wasting time, what’s the point.

Or maybe I need to redefine what progress means to me – often times I have been told; it’s the journey, not the destination that matters. Maybe looking for constant forward progress is a mug’s game.

Or maybe; like with exercise, sometimes we get fatigued and just need to take a day or two off. Maybe all my Mental Gymnast needs from me is a little patience and understanding while she takes a couple of days to kickback, relax and put her feet up in order to make her fresh and prepared for the next cranial contortion contest.