Fatigue

   I’m going to tell you something today that you’ve waited to hear your whole life. Stop! That’s right. Just stop. It sounds simple enough, but for most of us, it’s actually pretty hard. We spend almost a third of our lives working, and then another third goes toward our family (kids, your spouse, family reunions, and all those favors your relatives want). If you’re really lucky, you’re able to sneak in an hour of television or a workout after all that. Then you go to sleep, and your day is over. You might remember a time when you loved your job or didn’t secretly resent all the tasks you had to do with the people who you truly love. That time is long gone, though, and it’s because you’ve been running yourself ragged. The solution is pretty simple. Stop. No, I’m not talking about quitting your job or abandoning your family, but there is a way to keep your sanity and find the joy in your routine all over again.

   The first thing you need to do is have a convenient sick day or vacation. Do you remember when you were a kid and you skipped school? Everyone said how irresponsible you were, and you got into a lot of trouble if you got caught, but that teenager might have been smarter than the adult you grew into. He or she couldn’t stand to be in that classroom for one more moment, so you weren’t. You had a day to decompress, and when you had to get back to it, it was easier. The same goes for family. A trusted babysitter or a day away from your partner can actually go a long way. Don’t believe me? Try it. I’m doing that right now . . . or I will be once I finish up this blog. I’ve decided to take a day or two off from writing and talking to anyone that I don’t desire to. It sounds selfish in a world where we’re constantly bombarded with responsibilities, and we always have to keep up with the competition, but I’ll come back more productive than ever. On day one, I’ll get rid of the headache I’ve been sporting for the last two weeks, and on day two, I’ll start to miss writing and certain people. By day three, I’ll actually appreciate what I do again. For a month or two, it won’t be a job anymore, and then I’ll just have to take a day or two all over again.

   Maybe stopping what you’re doing isn’t the easiest thing in the world, though. Maybe a lot of people count on you, and your significant other and your kids wouldn’t know what to do without you. Maybe your boss is clueless, and you pretty much hold the place you work together. If that’s the case, then some planning might be in order. Communicate to the people you love in a nice way that you’re burned out. Then plan around the most important parts of your lives. Find two days that can just be about you. If they won’t give you that, then your problem might be a little deeper than being burned out.

   You might wonder why I thought to write about this. It’s something I’ve been struggling to do. I, along with many Americans, often feel like we’ve got to keep up with the status quo. If the average author writes x amount of words per day, then I think I should, too, and if normal twenty-six year olds go out every Friday, I feel like when I don’t, I’m a failure. Here’s the truth about me right now, though. I don’t want to write anything, and the only place I want to go is to my bed. That’s the one relationship I really miss. I’ve definitely been neglecting sleep. We think of life as a race so often, but if we slow down and just do what we want, we often find that we see it much more clearly. The work we do is often a joy when we feel like we don’t have to do it, and the people in our lives are there because we chose them, not for us to serve them. Somewhere in the middle of all that is us, too. We still exist, believe it or not. The kid who used to be selfish and blow off all his responsibilities is still in there, and guess what? He wants at least ten percent of your time, and when you give that time, your mind will be clearer, you’ll work better, be a much more loving person, and you’ll see life for exactly what it is. It’s not a race or competition. It’s the most interactive story in the universe where you pick what happens next. It can be a grind, or it can be the most amazing playground filled with as much love, accomplishment, and even individuality that you can comprehend.