And the body says... STOP!

Probably one of the really bad things about the Internet is that it never stops. It's on all day, every day. But eventually, the physical body working to maintain anything online simply has to stop. We have to eat, sleep, recharge our bodies. If we don't, we pay a heavy fine.

I'm just getting over paying that fine. Having pushed myself too far, I over-extended. And came down with pneumonia. While I have had pneumonia before, it hasn't knocked me down quite this hard before. Three days during which I could hardly breathe. Simply standing became an arduous task, almost as hard as trying to keep a constantly changing breaking news story up to date.

Thus, the long spell during which I haven't posted.

I can only hope I don't have to go on a second round of antibiotics, because keeping up with that is pretty hard when it comes to working online. It happened several times I was so occupied with my job that I forgot to take my pill... The janitor in the building got a good chuckle out of watching me dive for it one evening when I realized I was about two hours late.

So even though the Internet is constantly updating, it takes people like me to do it in many cases. But we are nothing more than people, which means we have limits. If we hit those limits and we ignore our bodies (or other aspects of our physical and mental well being), then our task must fall on other shoulders until we get back on our feet. Sometimes that recovery is quick and sometimes it isn't. I can be very glad I didn't end up in the hospital with this one, but that's no guarantee I won't someday in the future if I keep going the way I have.

In this market, simply having a job is a relief, but it also places extra stress on the people with jobs to do everything they can to keep that job and keep their bosses happy. Thus we fall victim to our own fear. The fear that we may be next, the fear we will wake up one day and be handed that pink slip, the fear that we simply aren't good enough no matter how hard we try. Even if we consciously know our jobs won't (or maybe can't) be eliminated, our unconscious minds still dwell on the "what ifs."

It takes dedicated people to keep the Internet up and running with all that information, especially on news sites. However, even the most dedicated person must eventually close the program, shut down the computer and leave the desk. Even when working from home, the Internet-based worker has to stop at some point.

Even if you are one of those that would be willing to expand your training (and I do count myself as such a one), this kind of field makes that very difficult. Between the need to keep up with daily tasks of posting and editing, trying to learn the new technology that is constantly coming out adds yet another stress to an already overloaded person.

It gets rather freaky when you start to dream of work. For example, watching text scroll across the screen (or sometimes pull a Matrix on you and be scrolling down in random-seeming columns) behind your eyelids. Even after that computer is off, you still see the screen and the slots that must be filled. It's like you never leave the computer behind, even when you burrow into your pillow. Please do not consider this a complaint. I am merely describing something that has actually happened to me. I have even overheard some of my co-workers describing strange dreams that took place at "work" while their minds and bodies were supposed to be resting.

Because of such things, rest is not restful and stress can continue to build in the subconscious. That makes our bodies weaker when it comes to staying healthy. We can try and try and try, but eventually, it will catch up and take you down. So beware. Listen to what your body has to say. If it says, "Stop," you had best listen.