Are you tired? Do this
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Recently, I started to feel very tired. The month of February was intense. It was my first month back full time at work and I had a brand new two month old baby boy at home. I was having a great time understanding how the pieces of the puzzle were coming together, yet I was finding myself quite tired at the end of each day. Eventually I realized that I was letting my tiredness accumulate, and if not addressed, it would turn into a liability. Not good.
Yet…We are going to get tired. It’s a fundamental piece of the human experience. Can we actually live a life where we never get tired? Impossible. The fear of avoiding discomfort is what leads us to live a very small life. We could structure our lives so we experience as little discomfort as possible, yet this would not allow us to take on exciting projects, rich experiences and in essence live our dreams and fully step into our greatness. That way of living brings me incredible sadness.
So what to do? Get in relationship with it and with yourself. Instead of panicking every time we feel tired, let’s say hello to it and decide what to do with it. “Hello tiredness, what am I going to do with you?” When I answer that question with “Ignore you, push over you, make you bend until you give” it gets risky.
So here’s what I did to get myself in a great place from which I could perform. I hope it is of service to you:
- Expect it. When we don’t expect discomfort to occur it catches up by surprise. We get resentful. And resentment leads to burnout (more on this in next posts).
- Get clear. Often, things are a moment in time. My husband gave me the best advice during this time: “You are learning how to be a mom while building what you want to create”. Bingo. This is new; I had never done it before. I am learning. There is a learning curve. Things will get better eventually. This too shall pass.
- Be realistic. Stop wanting to run away to a deserted island. We want to quit our jobs and NEVER work again. Then we get depressed because we can’t forgo working (eating and a home are nice things) which makes us even more tired. We believe everything drastically needs to change in order for us to get relief, when in reality we just need a breath.
- Take a breath every day. This is the golden nugget. You might think this is impossible for you to do given all the demands you have, yet if you want sustainable performance in the marathon of life, step into this. Every day do one thing that gives you energy and feels restorative. What restored me from almost exhaustion were the small, every day, steps I started taking (juicing kale and ginger for my favorite green juice, the 30 minute yoga class on my iPad, the 20 minute extra meditation in the evenings).
If you can’t carve out 20 minutes in your day for an investment in yourself, I invite you to consider there are greater issues at play. Right now, I want you to identify one thing you will do today that will be restorative for you. Right now, think of something. Right now. And then do it.
Take one breath each day, string them together, and create a sustainable life filled with small breaths…all together making the HUGE breath we crave.
Let me know how it goes! I would love to hear from you, so please leave a comment or question below. If you enjoyed this post, I would be honored if you share it with your friends, family, and community.
Lots of love,
Judith