Alice in Wonderland

Sometimes I get over-enthusiastic about things. If I start a book, I finish it in 48 hours. And then I don't read for a month. (unless Hello magazine and Facebook posts count) I had a torrid 2 day affair with Christian Grey and then my interest in him and his 'mouth pressed in a hard line' waned. Laters baby.

My friend Tessa, who despite being about 5 foot 3, has a real 'don't fuck with me' disposition, suggested I start running with her. I was in. I pictured myself running Two Oceans, bought Runners' World magazine, Googled running tips and woke up at 5am three times a week to run with Lil Tess. I even interviewed myself in the shower for a radio show talking about how 'if I can be a runner, anyone can'. Don't judge me. You've done that sort of shit too. Needless to say, there was no marathon and no radio show and after a month of unbridled enthusiasm, there was no running.

It's a bit of a paradox though, because I hate quitting and I think quitters are odious delinquents. I started university doing Speech Pathology and Audiology. It was clear in the first year that it wasn't a good culture fit for me. The rest of the class would sit studiously in Anatomy and Physiology learning about lung function, while I sat on Senate House floor teaching the actuarial science students how to blow smoke rings. Nevertheless, I finished the degree (by the end of four years, the Ac Sci guys could blow music notes)and won some medals for various things that are now just props for my kids' Olympic charades.

My excessive nature is an inherited trait. At best, I'm exuberant, imaginative, animated and full-on. At worst, I'm anxious, demanding, obsessive and full-on. Our family is kind of like a melange of Girl, Interrupted, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Sybil and The Big Lebowski, so it's quite unsurprising really. I sometimes wonder where the line is and whether or not I'm straddling it. Am I Type A or am I OCD? Am I jubilant or manic? Am I pensive or depressed? Moody or moonstruck? A little excessive or a little borderline?

Yesterday I had an ECG and cardiac enzymes tested because I had horrible chest pains and shortness of breath. Today, I dragged my whole office to the Westcliff stairs and lungs burning, I pushed my iron-deficient body up and down with a crew of 20-somethings. Right? RIGHT?

Whatever. Alice in Wonderland says that the best people are mad and her life was magical. x