Ode to Merc

Let's just say that the last 4-6 weeks have been a little rough over here in the waffle household.  I don't know if Mr. Wow felt it, but I sure did.

So many things were just out of control.  Sleep, eating, stress, beer consumption, lack of working out, poor work productivity.  I felt as if my life was in a tail spin.

 

It All Started With Sleep (Or A Lack Thereof)

 

To be honest, I have never been a great sleeper, especially when I was growing up, but in recent years, I have mastered more of this skill.  Maybe it's just the shear exhaustion from running my own company on a daily basis or maybe I actually got better about allowing myself to sleep.

But for most of July, I wasn't sleeping.

I couldn't fall asleep and I couldn't stay asleep.  It would take me hours to fall asleep and maybe an hour or two later I would wake up and be wide awake, unable to return back to the land of zzzz's.  This lasted for weeks.

It was the worst.

Sleep is a huge component to a happy life and despite my best efforts, I wasn't getting any.

 

A Lack of Sleep Pours Into Other Areas

 

Without adequate sleep, my mental band width diminished and my stress level shot through the roof.  Because I was constantly fatigued, I couldn't handle normal, everyday tasks like I usually could.  My "to-do list" got longer and longer and longer, thus adding more stress to my already over-stressed mind.

My workouts took a hit since I was so tired from not sleeping.

Should I get out of bed and work out or attempt to get another hour or so of much needed sleep?

I couldn't muster up any energy to work-out. The extra hour of sleep usually won over the workout.

My routine of waking up early and crushing it had gone out the window too. Since my morning routine allowed me the time to write, not waking up early drastically impacted my blogging.

I got way behind. You might have even noticed that I missed a week. Oops!

All of this lead to a diet full of unhealthy foods.  I was craving chips and cookies, french fries, nachos, you name it.  Fast food restaurants, which usually I avoid with ease, started to sound appealing.  My portion size skyrocketed.  I decided to eat my emotions and stress.

Oh yeah, and the headaches returned.  Unfortunately for me, most headaches compounded with stress, poor diet, and lack of sleep lead to migraines.  It was bad, real bad.

 

The Turning Point

 

Every month, I meet with a physical therapist friend of mine for a mastermind group.  He and I discuss how life has been the past month and set goals for the month to come.  Because my life had been in some weird alternate universe, I wasn't able to meet any of my goals for the month.

He had been killing it every month and I was mortified that he was just going to put me to shame. I didn't want to face him and have to unveil my faults. I desperately wanted to cancel the meeting (something we have yet to do in the almost year we have been doing this).

Despite not wanting to go, I went.

I quickly found out that he too had been struggling this past month.  He was complaining about similar things that I had been going through.  He mentioned that he wanted to cancel the meeting as well because he didn't want to face me and hash out how he didn't meet any of his goals. The feeling was mutual.

Fortunately for both of us, we didn't cancel our mastermind meeting and we learned that both of us had been struggling with life over the past month or so. We connected over the shared feeling of not being happy with our past month, but not really knowing what had caused us both to feel that way.

Regardless of how bad our previous month had been, we vowed to let the month of July be water under the bridge and then set out to outline some changes for the coming month. We set some formidable goals to get us back on track and make up for the lost time of July.

 

Merc, Is It Me You're Looking For?

 

The next day, he texted me.

It now all made sense!

Years ago I had first been introduced to mercury in retrograde, or Merc as I like to call him, when a similar pattern happened.  One of my client's parents was the one to first inform me of this event.

I remember mentioning to her that all of my client's seemed a little out of whack.  The ones who were usually full of energy, were asleep for most of our sessions and the ones that were usually low energy, were bouncing off the walls.  The parents were off, the kids were off, and quite frankly, I was off.

Once she mentioned that it had something to do with the planetary alignment, I did my own research and realized just how impactful this type of stuff is.

Now, I'm sure most of you are thinking that this is some made up thing that doesn't hold any water.  You may even be calling me a little hippy-dippy. I'm sure my composting, baking egg shells, and DIY laundry detergent only help to paint that picture.  But when there is such a drastic negative change in life with no explanation as to why and Merc just happens to be in retrograde, it's hard not to consider it to be true.  You can still not believe me if you like, but I firmly believe it the power of Merc.

Oh Merc, could it be true? Thanks Gwen for the photo

Oh and I should also mention that mercury being in retrograde has also been proven to affect Leo's more when it happens during the end of July/ early August.  Well crap! Both me and my mastermind buddy are, you guessed it, Leos.

No wonder we had a rough month.

Apparently, Merc entered retrograde around July 25 and ended on August 18; however, astrologists say that the effects of Merc can be felt as early as July 8 and last until September 1.

I actually think the affects hit me even earlier, like the first day or two of July, because by July 8, I was already a walking zombie.

It was a rough month.

 

Don't Start Something

 

Besides feeling all out of whack, I was informed that during a retrograde cycle, you are not to make any future plans, sign a contract, start a new job/ hire a new employee, or launch a product (i.e. magazine, website, etc).

The Mr. and I have been diligently working towards a plan for next year and let's just say that it all hit the fan during this period.  He kept asking for my thoughts and opinions and I had none.

He became extremely frustrated with my lack clarity and uncertainty.  Needless to say, he was not happy with me.

Additionally, I also have been working on my "beside hustle" and had originally hoped to launch it August 1.  Well, that obviously didn't happen and I guess its a good thing.

I didn't realize at first, but this must have all been caused by our good friend Merc.

 

Not Drinking the Koolaid Gatorade

 

Luckily, since the Merc feels hit me early, it also felt like it started leaving a bit earlier too. Life has been on the up and up for a few days now, but I'm still keeping an eye out until the beginning of September, just in case he decides to linger a little longer.

There are still moments of weirdness.

Like this past week I was late to almost all of my therapy sessions. I hate being late and rarely am, but for whatever reason, eh hem Merc, I was consistently late.  It irked me, but I knew that it was out of my control.

But I can say that the goals I set with at my mastermind meeting have helped me get back on track.

I am finally sleeping again, my diet is rocking, I'm working out every morning and sometimes adding in an additional exercise jaunt in the evening, my blogging is back on track, and my To-Do list is shrinking.  Still have some catching up to do, but I am making progress.

Sometimes things happen that are out of our control, but by setting goals and sticking with them, it can help you stay on track.  And boy am I happy to be back on the right track.

I am getting more and more excited for FinCon 2018 and was even checking out the schedule last night.  Who else if going to be there?

Oh and we'll also be on the cruise to Cuba with POF and a few other super cool bloggers. Got some big things to look forward to next month.

 

Anyone else have a run in with Merc and suffer the consequences? Or am I just looking for any explanation as to why July was a rough month for me?