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"I am looking at a black-and-white photograph of two women. One of them is sitting in a wheelbarrow \u2014 bright-eyed, eager, looking as if all of life is waiting for her. Behind her, the other woman stands with arms crossed, a steely determination in her eyes. Crudely painted on the front of the barrow are the words Votes for Women. On the side, I can also make out Omaha, Nebraska 1919. The women are my grandmother and my great-grandmother, both suffragettes, activists who fought tirelessly for women&amp;#039;s rights.  I&amp;#039;m lucky \u2014 I&amp;#039;ve inherited their energy. All the women in my family have. I can&amp;#039;t remember my mother ever being tired; today, at 77, she can run circles around most 50-year-olds. We just come hardwired that way. But what if you don&amp;#039;t? What if you look at your family tree and see relatives who&amp;#039;d rather be sitting on the front porch than dashing past it on their way to changing history? I don&amp;#039;t think you have to consign yourself to the chaise \u2014 stamina can be as much a state of mind as a physiological blueprint. You may not come by it naturally, but there are ways to develop a higher energy level. Or what if you once had more zip but now you struggle to keep up with everyday activities? You might be suffering from a health problem that&amp;#039;s readily treatable. In either case, you need to look at things in your life that might be lowering your stamina and learn how to fight them. Start by answering these questions: Are you bored?  I love having a lot of things on my plate. You might think I&amp;#039;d get tired, spinning off in a million directions. But I don&amp;#039;t \u2014 not if the activities are ones that give my life texture. For me, being a doctor, a reporter, and a mother requires balancing the exciting with the mundane. Keeping my brain working at different levels keeps my energy high. I also try to add pleasure to my life. You should too. Read a novel instead of cleaning the tub. Leave your desk and sneak in a five-minute walk.  Each time you do something delicious like that, you experience a little jolt of serotonin in the brain, which floods you with a sense of well-being \u2014 and recharges you for whatever&amp;#039;s next on your agenda. Do you get enough exercise?  Working out gives me a chance to think through problems; it&amp;#039;s the best way to purge everyday stresses that sap stamina. Exercise also raises brain chemicals that energize you. If you hate the gym (as I do), find something else. For me, that means riding a horse or hiking. Whatever your choice, doing it regularly is the best way to build up energy levels. How&amp;#039;s your night life? Do you dream? If you don&amp;#039;t, it may be a sign that you can&amp;#039;t get into a deep enough plane of sleep to feel refreshed. Eating late in the evening or drinking alcohol before bed can interfere with normal sleep cycles. You&amp;#039;ll drop off quickly but then become restless a few hours later, tossing and turning until morning. Have dinner at least two hours before bedtime; a glass of wine with the meal is fine, but more than that will disrupt your zzz&amp;#039;s.  Are you on medication? Take a hard look at all those bottles in your cabinet, including the over-the-counter preparations that you may not think of as medicine. If you find yourself slowing down at an unusual time of day (mid-morning, for example) or within an hour of taking a medication, you may have found the suspect.  Do you suffer from allergies? Even the &amp;quot;nonsedating&amp;quot; formulas of antihistamines cause drowsiness in some people. Actually, many kinds of pills can. A couple of years ago, everyone was swearing by melatonin as a good antidote for jet lag. So I tried this natural remedy on a trip to Europe. I was totally knocked out the next day \u2014 I felt far worse than if I hadn&amp;#039;t taken anything.  There&amp;#039;s also a possibility that the combination of medications you&amp;#039;re on is causing your sluggishness. Gather up all the drugs \u2014 OTC and herbal as well as prescription \u2014 and take them to your doctor or pharmacist. Ask if you should stagger them over the course of the day. Or maybe you need to split the dosage of a particular drug \u2014 take half in the morning, half at night.  Have you been sick? If you&amp;#039;ve had a crummy cold or other viral infection, you may be feeling the lingering effects. Or it may be a new infection: Viruses mutate quickly as they make their way through a community. While you&amp;#039;re still fighting your way out of one bout of illness, with your immune system weakened, the next infection attacks. The cure for this energy drain is...patience. While you&amp;#039;re waiting, get plenty of rest, eat well, and remember that soon your body will be restored. Is it hormonal? Some women feel sluggish when they have their period and again when they&amp;#039;re going through menopause. Although doctors don&amp;#039;t know why, major hormonal earthquakes like menopause (pregnancy, too) can affect the thyroid gland. The thyroid is the furnace for the rest of the body, regulating everything from your weight to how you respond to heat and cold. It has a huge impact on your energy level. And yet, a low-functioning thyroid is one of the most underdiagnosed maladies in women. It&amp;#039;s also one of the most easily treated \u2014 a simple daily pill can bring thyroid hormone levels back up and make you feel like your old self again.  So if your energy is off \u2014 especially if you have other symptoms (you are always cold or your skin and hair are dry) \u2014 see your doctor and ask for a thyroid test. A thorough checkup can also pinpoint other illnesses, such as diabetes or chronic fatigue syndrome, that may be stealing your energy. Are your friends (or loved ones) draining your energy?  I believe that it&amp;#039;s important to look at the people in your life. Are they on the go and doing things that charge them? Their enthusiasm can be contagious, lifting your spirits as well. But if they&amp;#039;re negative about life, or if they&amp;#039;re the kind of people who only take from the relationship, they&amp;#039;re going to bring you down. You may not be able to stop seeing these folks (they might be relatives!), but by also investing in friendships that broaden your life, you will be able to minimize the effects of the zest killers.  It&amp;#039;s worth the effort. Having more stamina makes all the difference in how you approach your day \u2014 and in how much joy you derive from life. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/advice/a16815/recharge-stamina-jan05/>