Of all the things I've ever lost, I miss ... the most.

Of all the things I've ever lost, I miss my mind the most. I was thinking of this line - a Mark Twain original, later quoted and made famous by Ozzy Osborne - as I lay down for a nap today at noon. Only what flashed through my mind was - Of all the things I've ever lost, I miss my youthful energy the most!

When I look back on what I managed to accomplish in my younger days, I really wonder how I did it. As a university student, I usually had a part-time job. Then, while teaching full-time (in my 20s), I regularly took university courses as well. At one time, I had a part-time job in addition to my full-time teaching. And I don't remember being tired (sleepy, maybe) or feeling I was doing too much.

In my 30s, parenting began - an ever-increasing responsibility as three children claimed more of my time and energy. THAT was the beginning of my tiredness as I know it today. It eased off for a while when they were all in school, but after I resumed my full-time teaching, bringing home marking and lesson prep every evening, tiredness began to creep back into my bones.

I have read that fatigue is the first sign of type 2 diabetes, so it may have been my rising blood sugar levels that increased my sense of exhaustion. I was eventually told that I did have diabetes, and was taught the importance of watching what I eat and of exercising more.

I have managed to hold the diabetes at bay through exercise and diet for several years now, but have never reclaimed my youthful energy. (Could it be because I'm quite a few years away from youthful?!)

So I'm hoping to find the secret - not of youth, but of YOUTHFUL ENERGY... because that is what I really miss the most!