"Chin up." He stood before me all handsome in his collered shirted and short shorts. My boyfriend was about to leave for work and I was standing by the kitchen skin trying to stop my bottom lip from hitting the hardwood floor. I was trying to make us green juice for breakfast but the kitchen was such a mess from all of my roommates baking Christmas cookies and a steak dinner from two nights ago. I couldn't find a cutting board for the vegetables and that was the last ounce of my willpower - zap! gone. And it's only 9:50am. I've been running on fumes this week trying to edit family portrait sessions before Christmas, bake 700 cookies that I'm going to hand-deliver to my clients, prepare Christmas gifts and somehow also squeeze in rest, socializing and healthy living (totally failing by the way, all I've been eating is sugar cookies and liking icing off my guilty fingers). So this morning, when he gave me that look across the kitchen and tears started welling up in my eyes I truly felt the concept "ego-depletion" or "limited willpower". This concept is under debate but it certainly fits with my experience - when I'm fully charged I can conquer the world but as the day (or week) wears on task by task I am weakened until I'm crying over a simple green juice in the kitchen. Thankfully my boyfriend started chopping vegetables for me and gave me a big smooch before he left for work. I survived with a little smile on my face and downed my juice. // Cha

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