It's hard to jump back into something you last did two years ago. The Globe's Miss Conduct answers the question of "Why does it feel so exhausting to be back at work, even if I never got sick?" beautifully with a counter-example: “Dear Miss Conduct, I got run over by a truck. But the truck isn’t on top of me anymore, so why am I just lying here in the road, not improving my life?” And the phrase a client used keeps going through my head, "Not my best work," as she worried about a social gathering she had gone to. Me too! We're all rusty! At stuff we didn't know you could get rusty at! So remember: we wouldn't train for a marathon, stop running for two years, and then expect to get out there and run 26 miles. We might try run/walking 1 mile, see how it feels, go home and rest, recover the next day, maybe add a quarter mile the day after. Go slow everyone, don't do more than one new thing a week, give yourself days and evenings off for recovery. Be thoughtful and compassionate with yourself about what you want to improve next time out. Remember that everyone around you is also struggling, you are not alone in feeling a little bit overwhelmed by what you thought should be easy. May we all meet this too with kindness.
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