My Taxicab Confession

When I was dating my husband, we were long distance dating.  (Technically, I’m still dating my husband, but this was before we were married.)  It’s a long story for another day, but we met in Florida at a work conference while I was living in Chicago and he was living in Boise.

For us, dating looked like long phone conversations, lots of texting (there was no FaceTime back then), and seeing each other every other weekend, at best.  So at least once a month, I would fly from Chicago to either Boise, or somewhere in the US we were meeting up, to spend the weekend with him.

At that time in my young adulthood, I had no husband, no kids, and no hobbies other than work.  So working long hours is what I did.  (To be fair, it’s what everyone in my industry and career path did.)  I got to work by 9am, came back home by 9pm, and slept in between.

So, at least once a month, when it was my turn to fly across the country, I would leave my downtown Chicago office at 3pm on a Friday, hail a cab (this was before Uber), and head to the airport for my weekend getaway.  Given the fast pace and stress load of my work weeks, getting in that cab felt like a spa day.  Just knowing I was headed to the airport to get away drained all the adrenaline and stress from my body.  Every moment of the week, I worked towards getting to that moment in the cab.

But, as all that stress and adrenaline that kept me going during the week left my body, it would happen.  Every time.  On that late Friday afternoon, I would get in that smelly city cab, with a random city cab driver and…

[this is cringe-worthy]

…I would fall asleep.

For the record, it is my most sincere advice that you never fall asleep in a cab, Uber, or Lyft.  This is not wise for anyone, let alone a bubbly, 22-year-old woman.  (Cue my mom texting me as she reads this… “You did what??”)

The thing was, I couldn’t help it.  When your body and brain are done, they are done.  No amount of coffee, Redbull, or drugs will keep you going.

So my body slept.

In a dirty Chicago taxicab.

I’m happy to report that nothing bad ever happened to me, if you don’t count the bumper-to-bumper Chicago traffic, and I always woke up at the airport and not in some back alley on the southside.

My point is this - your body and brain can only take so much.  If you don’t choose when it rests and recuperates, it will choose for you.

And when I say rest, I’m not talking about the obligatory 5 hours of sleep at night that you think counts as “rest”.  I’m talking real, motionless, conscious rest time where your body and brain stop to breathe.

Your body is good to you.  Even with all its cracks, creaks, and imperfections, it is good to you.  It gets you to where you need to go.  It gives hugs to your kids.  It works to provide food for your family, whether you’re cooking it or earning the money to buy it (or both).

Your brain is good to you too.  Yes, sometimes you feel like you can’t remember anything.  It’s because you have a everything stored up there!  Give yourself some grace.  You’ve got a lot on your shoulders.

Be good to your body.

Be good to your mind.

Don’t fall asleep in an Uber.