Strongly Tired
A day doesn’t go by without hearing someone admit to being tired. Depending on the time of day, this results in different thoughts. If you admit to being tired as soon as you wake up, there are questions about the quality and quantity of rest. Or perhaps, the circumstances of life spilling over into the usual time for sleep. For mid-day tiredness, there is the easy answer of taking a nap or getting more caffeine. Although naps sound lovely, most humans don’t have the actual time to take them. The best tired feeling is the one that starts with a yawn and looking forward to snuggling underneath the covers. For many reasons, I look forward to going to sleep and have made my bedroom a divine place to rest.
Tired and Strong
During busier times of life, it is easy to not get enough rest. When there are many responsibilities, sleep usually becomes less of a priority so that there is time for some other activity. Even choosing to get up early to spend time alone, which always sounds like a good self-care tactic, shortens the amount of time spent asleep. If the desire to access early hours is strong enough, the tiredness can be swapped with the good feeling of attending to a much-desired project. The yawns become a reminder of the sacrifice that will result in something worthwhile. This type of sacrifice is admired.
Tired of being Strong
When life throws an unexpected wrench into plans, a whole new level of tiredness appears. Humans who live with illness, tragedy, troubling financial circumstances or any other unexpected shock experience being tired at a new level. At a time when gentleness would be a great gift, life piles on another reminder that being human requires traveling through a gauntlet at times. Part of the scenario involves having to mentally deal with new thoughts as well as physical concerns. Whenever new routines are forced into life, it takes some strategizing to handle them. Planning takes away time that might have been used in rest. Getting tired of handling the slings of life can wear a human down. It is easier to give in to being tired.
Duality
There is strength in being tired and understanding how it is affecting life. There is also strength in updating how to be correctly tired. After all, the constant whining about being so tired is actually quite tiring. Humans never like to hear a phrase that describes how tired they look. It is the ultimate passive-aggressive method of telling someone they look horrible. If someone feels tired, they know it already. It is always better not to focus on the obvious issue if you know about it. The opposite tactic works well. Noticing admiration for strength automatically upgrades it. For humans going through busy life chapters, it goes a long way to appreciate their ability to stay on track as much as possible. Everyone knows that it is easy to swerve off course at times, but it takes real strength to head back to the center of the road and keep going. Let’s normalize noticing strength. Let’s try harder to accept being a little winded. After all, being out of breath demonstrates how much energy is being put into life. You can catch your breath with a good night of sleep.
Can you ignore being tired? What is your strength level like when you are focused on a scarcity of rest? What is your feeling about naps?
