Last night I encountered the MOTHER OF ALL NIGHT-SWEATS! (I used all CAPS to make it seem really dramatic, kind of like a campy old horror movie.)
It’s a wonderful thing to wake up wet and clammy.
It’s been happening quite a bit lately.
My shirt was soaked this morning.
It’s a little embarrassing, but true.
Night-sweats sounds like an old Bob Seger song.
I lay in bed thinking about perspiration.
I couldn’t help it.
sweat…
I come from a long line of sweaters, Dad was a sweater, Mom was a windbreaker.
I’ve sweat a lot in my life.
If there was a frequent sweater card, I would be carrying it!
It doesn’t take much to make me glisten.
I’ve sweat from hard work.
I’ve also sweat from doing nothing at all.
I’ve sweat from standing outside in the sun, being in a cramped space, or eating a spicy burrito.
I’ve had butt sweat on a swampy summer day.
I’ve had the Meat-sweats after a night at a Brazilian steak house with some good friends.
I have occasionally sweat the small stuff.
I have also sweat about some big stuff.
Sweating is embarrassing.
We work hard to never let people see us sweat. We fret over sweat marks, we worry about our soggy armpits showing through our shirt. (interesting random perspiration fact: horses have armpits and sweat like we do, yet they don’t seem embarrassed in the least!)
Sweat stinks.
No really, it literally stinks!
It causes some noxious odors to invade our space.
It can make our pits smell like onions and our scalps smell like old goat cheese.
Not cool!
But, sweat happens.
Last night I encountered the MOTHER OF ALL NIGHT-SWEATS!
There’s an invisible battle going on inside me.
I’m left singing “hello night-sweats, my old friend.”
Why sweat?!
Maybe they’re just leaving my pillow moist.
(Moist is a word that annoys a lot of people)
But maybe the sweat is purging toxic things out of me…
Things that I can’t see.
I’ve been fighting fever and infection this weekend.
Maybe the sweat is doing something good that I can’t see.
If that’s true, I’m okay with the stink.
There have been times when I’ve had to purge my life of unhealthy habits, attitudes, thinking. Things that were toxic and stinky and embarrassing. But, things that were necessary to sweat out of my life.
Sweat happens.
Sometimes that’s good.
carbonated joy 