Enervation

There are those words, that no matter how careful you are, you can't shake the original incorrect definition your brain has latched onto for dear life.  Enervation is one of those words for me.  I cannot help thinking such things as joyous, lighter than air, ephemeral, light, and so on and so forth.  Instead it means (h/t to Merriam Webster):
 Definition of ENERVATE

1: to reduce the mental or moral vigor of

2: to lessen the vitality or strength of

— en·er·vat·ing·ly adverb

— en·er·va·tion noun

Examples of ENERVATE

1. <a lifetime of working in dreary jobs had enervated his very soul>
2. <the surgery really enervated me for weeks afterwards>

And that, Dear Reader, is what I feel today after my first full body workout after about 10 years away from the gym.  How could I resist?  The university offers a 3 month membership for $25 (although godknows I've paid for this many times over in all the  "registration fees" I'm assessed each and every semester I enroll in a class.)  And since I've gotten tired of the sound of rotating helicopter blades every time I raise my hands above my head (and yes, my age cohort female friends, I'm talkin' about us) I thought why not?  Why not indeed?  I drove my sorry ass home, took a shower, sat upright for a half-hour and then promptly went to bed with my clothes on.  Tomorrow I expect to be put in an iron lung.

I've been through this twice before -- once in my late 30's when my friend Shawn seduced me into going to the Harlem Y with him.  (I should have put a camera around my neck and pretended I was a tourist.)  After that I told everyone who'd listen that I felt like I'd just birthed quintuples and then got run over by a Mack truck.  Then the bout of fitness in my late 40's because the Brooklyn Y was 2 blocks away.  That's where I started to lift weights and loathe yoga.  Both times I grew to love the bodywork; wouldn't miss it the way some wouldn't miss church.  Now, in my late 50's I'm at it again.

The stakes are higher for sure.  So far this year I've got a 4 figure physical therapy bill to pay down, and every time I stub my toe I fear I'll be paralyzed.  It's time to preserve what I've got and if I'm lucky maybe go at this long enough to actually experience an energy gain and significant weight loss.  I am my own summer project.  But first things first:  how am I going to get out of bed tomorrow?!