What's your sweat?

"Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman". 

Motionsense, clinical strength. 

I bought it all, hook, line and sinker. In fact, step into my bathroom and you will find just about every deodorant/antiperspirant on the market. Here's a sampler from my collection: 

I even have the underarm maxi pads. Yes, those are real, you can order them right on Amazon.com. You see, I suffer from excessive underarm sweat. It doesn't just happen when I am nervous or anxious. No, it could be an exceptionally calm day. It could be in the dead of winter. Doesn't matter. 

I cannot tell you how many perfectly good shirts, blouses, sweaters I have ruined. I cannot wear black all the time! Even then, the sweat mixes with the deodorant and causes a nice chalky puddle underneath my arm pits. Nice. 

They say to wear loose, cotton types of shirts. Which I do, and it still rains down. 

My doctor even prescribed something for me to apply nightly. I've tried just using powder. See, I don't really need the perfumy stuff. It's the antiperspirant part. 

Don't get me wrong, I know that sweating is a natural process. I love feeling/seeing sweat drip off of me when I am gettin' it in at the gym. But seriously, don't need it when I am just sitting at my desk. Not so much. 

I cannot tell you how embarrassing this is. My field of work oftentimes calls for me to facilitate meetings and trainings. Imagine, being up front, in front of an audience. In the words of Tupac Shakur, all eyes on me. Being too embarrassed to lift your arm to write on big wall post it note. Or sitting in a meeting with your arms clamped to your side. 

I've done the research. There are a few options:

1. Have my sweat glands removed. Side effects - excessive sweating in other areas of the body
2. Botox shots - this could affect other areas of your body
3. A new procedure, as described by my mother so of course, no details. Well, the only detail she provided was that Dr. Oz says it costs $2500.

Speaking of my mother, I blame her for this. Or my dad. One of them is to blame. My sister shares this burden with me. Somehow, my brother was relieved of this burden. I certainly hope that this isn't passed on to Yogli or Hummingbird. I can already tell that they both have some parts of it now. Yogli with the sweaty hands, Hummingbird sweats pretty easily. I'll have them call their grandparents and thank them. 

My latest remedy involves applying Certain Dri at night. In the morning, applying Tom's of Maine Naturally Dry. It says Powder Fresh but, ya'll (that GA peach coming out), it has no smell at all. Then on top of the Tom's, I use a lil layer of Degree. This method has served me well for the past two weeks. I knew I would need it this week because I have been at an off site work meeting with colleagues from regions outside of Georgia. Basically, I knew I would be involved in some high level stuff. 

So, you can see how this could have possibly taken away from my focus at work. If I would have let it. There are plenty of things that try to draw us away from where we should be focusing. Of course, a situation like this could make me feel insecure. If I let it. I could have very easily paid attention to the puddles under my arms. Instead I realized that I had a great career opportunity. I focused on presenting information exceptionally, paying attention, networking and representing my department. I find that once I ignore the sweat, it stops. 

What's your sweat? What's keeping you from focusing? Ignore it, see what happens. It may take a few instances of ignoring it in order to regain your focus. Keep doing it. 

Of course, when this was all over, I texted MonkeyMan and whined about my sweaty armpits.