The Good the Bad and the Tired

On Being Tired

My Dear Lovelians & Lifers,

Original image credit to Bruno van der Kraan

I’m tired.

No point skirting around this bush. I am exhausted. Who knew doing hard things is, well, hard? Most days, I come home from work and have very little energy to do anything other than sit and watch my sister play videogames. Thank goodness homework is a requirement of the past.

I’ve always hated the idea of answering the How are you? question with I’m tired. Too many people give me this answer when I ask them, and they wear it like a badge of honor, as if it won’t ever change. I abhor living this way but let me share with you a secret...it’s only temporary.

I used to believe exhaustion was a never-ending condition caused by the 40-hour work week. Evidence to support this belief seemed to be everywhere I looked, peers and older adults alike. It confused me and made joining the workforce after university ten times more daunting than it should have been.

What I didn’t know, tiredness can be both good and bad. Good tired rests in healthy pride from a job well done. Bad tired, from what I’ve witnessed, results from a life lived in perpetual imbalance, too many long hours beyond the normal eight and not enough rest and normal life activities. In other words, no boundaries and poor habits. While I understand a plethora of reasons exist as to why people live this way, it still does not eliminate the fact people were created to thrive, and this...isn’t thriving.

All I needed was one example of someone my age content and thriving in their work, not rich by any means, but happy. I received two. Just knowing it can be done in my stage of life has completely altered my mindset when it comes to work and provided a great deal of peace. While I am incredibly tired at the moment, I realize this will diminish as I adjust to my new climate, which takes time.

After all, it isn’t just my physical body that needs to adjust. I also must monitor the amount of thought-energy I put into this aspect of my day. This allows me to turn off my work-brain when I’m not at work and have reserves left for the rest of my day, which takes practice. I’m floundering a bit at the moment, hence the tiredness, but I enjoy what I do. So that helps.

Until next time, dear friends,

Stay Curious,

Olivia

P.S. Have you ever noticed wind blowing through trees sounds like falling water or ocean waves? Such peaceful sounds.