We hosted a dinner the other night with our neighbours. One of them was 24 years old.
He reminded me a lot of myself at that age. Young, full of energy, convinced anything is possible, able to function on little sleep and keep going.
I caught myself wondering what happened to that part of me. Where did that energy go?
Then I spoke to a friend who said something simple: as we get older we get smarter, wiser, but we also take on more responsibilities. Fair enough.
But I don't think that's the full picture. I think the real issue is cortisol. Stress compounds. Sleep suffers. Responsibilities pile up. And cortisol just sits there, quietly draining you.
The trick is to not overthink it. Build behaviours that reduce cortisol. Protect sleep. Manage stress before it manages you. I don't think the energy goes away with age. I think we just stop protecting it.
— MQ