Activation Energy

Sometimes the most petty tasks become the most irksome.  It had been my intent to shower before bed, but I watched something on streaming instead.  Then get up on time, shower, and proceed with my day.  Now, shower after my first OLLI class and treadmill effort, which makes a lot of sense.  Not that I am shower averse.  The stream of water at a temperature just right for me with a variable pattern control is usually very soothing.  I have a series of specialty skin and hair applications from medicated and non-medicated shampoos, topicals that exfoliate and invigorate, two substances specified for beards, a choice of scented body washes, a choice of bar soaps.  And after drying I have a similar selection of facial and hair options, as well as body scents to choose from.  It would seem that my shower would be a prized destination, and often it is. However, that soothing time competes with other things I could be doing instead, often things that require fewer continuous minutes to accomplish but sometimes things like sleep or eating or studying that have a payoff beyond the immediate time.  

As I become largely and indoor cat, the day starts and ends primarily with a screen, interspersed with hygiene, grooming, exercise, nutrition.  All need doing, some need sustained activity.  All need a start, sometimes motivated intrinsically, sometimes prodded by an appointment or deadline.  Like a chemical reaction, being energetically favorable still requires an investment of activation energy before the inevitable transformation can proceed.  It is that jolt to proceed that has not been as consistent for me as I might like.