GRACE TO BE TIRED

“do not fret…the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.”

Psalm 37:8b,11

Sometimes fatigue overtakes us. We can be going, going, going….absolutely gung ho and resolved to work out, eat right, get enough sleep…all the things that are supposed to make us feel good. We can be taking our vitamins, drinking plenty of water, even having our quiet time with God. We are doing all the “right” things, but for whatever reason, some mornings we wake up, and we just feel….drumroll please….TIRED!

I had one of these mornings just yesterday. My to-do list after getting home from a trip was staring me down…trying to capture my attention. The more I ignored it, the heavier it seemed to get. Procrastination set it. Then guilt set in for proscratinating. Then pure frustration set it because I was just plain mad at my fatigue. Inside I thought, “Hey body! Let’s go…what do you need? More coffee? A nap? A walk? What’s going on with you today? I thought we had a good plan going….eating right, exercising… what’s up!” I kept waiting for my energy to kick in, but my body was saying a word I didn’t have time to hear: REST!

That afternoon, laundry still piled up and the house a bit of a disaster, I gave my boys the okay to hold the fort down while I snuck off into my bedroom for a “quick power nap”. :) That power nap became a two and a half hour nap of wonderful-ness and my kiddos got imaginary stars and brownie points for letting Mommy sleep. I even crawled in bed early that night, swept under my covers by a common syndrome known as….

FATIGUE.

Mommies get tired. Women get tired. Dancers get tired. We all get tired. But sometimes we are too busy to notice, and our bodies have to get our attention somehow, so a heavy fatigue sets in as if to say…”Wake up! You’re tired! You need to rest and be gentle on yourself.” But we feel guilty for taking that time to take care of ourselves. We feel like we should be able to keep moving constantly. But what I am learning….and oh how I wished I had learned it sooner at times, is that moving all the time is no way to live. Because you see, in the constant state of motion, we miss a whole lot of sweet moments. Our world shouts at us to move faster and that somehow moving faster will make us more successful. But this constant moving is robbing us of really seeing the beautiful moments on top of draining us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Moving slow enough to see the beautiful moments is what de-stresses our souls, slows our rushing pace down, and invites us to keep in step with God. We tend to want to move at a much faster pace than the one He is moving at. But His pace is where we learn to become more like Him and to lean on Him.

I am realizing that a lot of the times that I feel tired, the fatigue stems from something deeper than the physical….it stems from stress, emotional tension, worry, and trying to anticipate the future. Ugggg…that does not feel good to admit. This emotional roller coaster wears out our bodies. This roller coaster takes a toll on us. We are not so much physically tired, as emotionally tired. Been there?

I prefer the kind of tired where I KNOW why I am tired. Like when I found out I was pregnant with each of my three sons….that kind of tired was justifiable. Or when one of my babies was waking up at night a lot…of course I am going to feel tired. But when FATIGUE comes out of no where…when their is no apparent good reason for it, I tend to be hard on myself.

Fatigue can lead to burn out, a faulty perspective, and even wanting to quit. I found that out in the ballet studio on many occasions. I LOVED dancing when I felt good and energetic, but on the days I felt sore and my body hurt and was tired…well…I was not nearly as passionate about it.

My point in all of this, is to encourage you that we all have those kind of days when we are just off….tired…a little worn down. (or a lot!) We can’t be 100% bouncy and peppy every single day. Oh but I want to be….I don’t particularly like the days that I feel run down and tired. But now I realize that instead of fighting through the fatigue, I need to listen to it.

So be gentle on yourself. Give yourself grace to be tired on some days. On those days, curl up with a good book. Take it easy. You will be back to your productive self another day. Your body is trying to tell you something. Remember, we all have those harder days. You will feel better. Maybe this slowing down is God’s way of waking you up to His presence in your life. Go slow enough to notice. And moving forward, slow down and soak in the goodness of the sweet moments of your day. Moving too fast pushes us to the brink of fatigue and robs us of the joy of the little moments in our day.

The simple phrase in Psalm 37, “do not fret” reminds us to leave all our worries and stress in God’s capable hands. When we do, we can “enjoy great peace” instead of feeling exhausted by the pressure that worrying and stress put on our bodies.

Praying for each of you today. :)

Prayer: “Dear Lord, on the days that I feel tired, help me embrace the grace to rest and be gentle on myself. Help me slow down in order to savor each and every moment. Help me release every worry and every stress into Your capable hands because I want to know Your peace.”