It’s six in the evening, and I’m at Panera Bread eating a salad and NOT drinking a beer because I just came from my doctor’s office. And whereas she said my cholesterol was not great but headed in the right direction (down) and my other numbers looked good, when we talked about my upset stomach she said, “Are you more stressed lately?–Has your diet changed?–Are you drinking more alcohol?”

“Yes–yes–yes,” I said. (Is this the Inquisition?!)

So now I’m trying to work on those things by treating myself “a little better.” (YUM–salad!) Additionally, my doctor wrote me a prescription for an acid blocker, which she said I could drop in favor of ginger tablets once things calm down significantly.

In terms of my up-and-down energy levels, she said both my testosterone and thyroid levels were good–nothing to worry about. Likewise, my B12 levels are UP, so I “should be” feeling more energized, which I suppose I am. (Woo!) “Do you wake up in the morning READY TO GO and EXCITED to face the day?” she asked. “That’s not exactly my experience,” I replied. So she suggested it might be a matter of whether or not I’m getting good REM sleep. “My sleep is unpredictable,” I said. “I’m kind of a night owl.” Thankfully, she said the TIME I went to bed didn’t really matter, so long as I was CONSISTENT about it. Otherwise, my body could easily get confused about when to go to sleep and when to wake up.

As my sleep patterns really are all over the place, I immediately imagined my body throwing up its hands in frustration and asking me, “What THE HELL is going on with you, mister?!”

To which I then imagined myself replying, “You know, that’s an excellent question.”

Otherwise, my doctor said I was in good shape. And whereas this is–once again–good news, it’s also a real head-scratcher for me. I mean, I have had some significant health problems this last year, so the fact that all my blood work keeps coming back as “next to stellar” is somewhat of a mystery to me. And yet, I am happy about it–this is cause to celebrate. Life isn’t as bad as I thought it was. MY life isn’t as bad as I thought it was.

It’s occurred to me recently that I often over-complicate things. (No. Not You, Marcus. Surely you jest!) But really, life has, plenty of times, BEEN complicated, and I’ve realized slowly over the last year or two that “complicated” has consequently become my expectation. This manifests itself as all-or-nothing thinking such as, I HAVE to FULLY commit to a diet, I HAVE to exercise EVERY DAY, or I HAVE to try fifteen prescription medications or natural remedies BEFORE one of them will work.

You know–complicated.

If this sort of thinking sounds like it would be exhausting, it is. Because isn’t it POSSIBLE that there are simple answers to the problems in our lives–at least simpler than we might have imagined? Like, get some better rest, drink more water, or take some ginger tablets? Couldn’t I just cut back, rather than cut out, beer and chocolate chip cookies? Couldn’t I just eat MORE salads instead of ALL salads?

Couldn’t I–I don’t know–go easy on myself for a change?