I’m not one to really follow the lives of celebrities. Honesty, I feel like celebrities are the high school “cool kids.” Why do we care about them? I’ll admit that I know much less than most people about the latest Hollywood gossip.

Even though I’m pretty clueless in this area, I sure seem to hear a lot about celebrities contracting the disease called…Exhaustion. The list is astounding really – Colin Farrell, Ashlee Simpson, Mariah Carey, Ruben Studdard, Eminem. The list goes on and on. Recently Helen A. S. Popkin, a MSNBC contributor, wrote an article joking about this trend. She writes:

“Currently, there are many worthy causes pulling at our purse strings: tsunami and Katrina relief efforts, AIDS funding, National Enquirer subscriptions, etc. But certainly every American is willing to spare extra tax dollars to protect and preserve the famous. “Exhaustion” isn’t going to cure itself — especially since “exhaustion” has no specific cause or definition.”

Although sarcastic, Helen has a good point. There is a problem here. Exhaustion doesn’t just happen like a natural disaster. But let’s face it, who’s not exhausted…and we all do it to ourselves.

A fellow blogger, the Valley Girl, makes an interesting point:

“I’m enough of a hypochondriac to be up on my popular diseases and medical maladies so I’m reasonably sure that exhaustion is a symptom not a diagnosis. I couldn’t imagine rushing into the E.R. at the end of a grueling day and screaming, "Quick, someone get me a stretcher, I’m EXHAUSTED!”

So, I think I’m starting to see the problem. These doctors diagnosing all of these ‘exhausted’ celebrities have not yet heard about Adultitis. (Maybe because they have it, themselves.) It just so happens that “exhaustion” is a major symptom to Adultitis. People are getting misdiagnosed, which is quite a shame. You know what ‘they’ say – the first step is admitting you have a problem.

After I identified my Adultitis a few years ago, I felt like I was on my way to recovery. It really wasn’t until just recently when we started The Escape Plan that I’ve been able to be more immersed in a conscious mindset of thinking and acting in a more childlike way. It doesn’t come naturally…at least not for me. It’s kind of like if you were prescribed physical therapy on your leg. If you don’t actually do the exercises your leg will not improve. You have to actually make a conscious effort to do the necessary activities.

We are almost halfway done with our 40 days of challenges. It’s been a lot more difficult than I had first predicted, but I’m gradually starting to see little changes in myself. It’s also been very inspiring reading what other Voyagers are coming up with for their challenges. I finally feel like I am really fighting my Adultitis…and sometimes I even feel like I’m winning.