Mountain

There is this mountain I have to climb. At the bottom of the mountain is an alien creature, some kind of thing I have never met or even seen before. At first when the creature, who is called fatigue, kept trying to sit on me, I used what energy I didn't have to dodge it but eventually it wore me down and sat on me. It weighed heavy. It made doing things really hard, even thinking. I guess when you've got a creature sat on you it's pretty hard to think of much else. I tried to ignore it but that didn't work, then I tried and tried to push it off but it wouldn't budge. I tried to fight it as it made me angry but I didn't have the right weapons and it was too strong, so all I really did was flail around and feel pretty powerless and use more energy I didn't have.
But then, over time and with help from some key people, I realised something essential, a key to help me in defeating this creature. And that is that this creature cannot be beaten in a fight, it doesn't play by the rules. The only way to beat it is to tame it- bit by bit, learn how it works, what its next move might be. And though you may sometimes still feel you are dodging in the dark tracking, observing the way it plays its game, when it is most likely to knock you down, is the only way to learn. And still it sits on you, that has not changed. But sometimes now it shifts position and you can breathe more easily. Sometimes you find strength in corners of yourself you never knew were there, sometimes others lie down next to you or tame the creature with tricks only they can use, or cheer you on from nearby, giving you some of their strength to help you get through the times when the full weight of the creature is sat squarely on your chest. And this is not a battle that can be won alone, or overnight. It takes time to tame a creature as big and frightening and unknown as fatigue. But, bit by bit, I am doing it, bit by bit the shifts happen and I get closer and closer to climbing the mountain. One step at a time.