Happy but Tired

Expending Energy

“The truth is every movement of your body, every emotion you have, every thought that passes through your mind is an expenditure of energy. Just as everything that happens outside in the physical world requires energy, everything that happens inside requires an expenditure of energy.”

Michael A Singer (The Untethered Soul)

We are well aware that when we run six miles, workout at the gym, rake and mow the yard, or clean the house, we are tired afterward. Our muscles have been flexing and extending, pumping and bending, lifting and reaching, and they are stiff and tired—but usually in a good way, because that's what muscles are designed to do. We are less aware that when we go through a period of mental or emotional exertion, we are equally tired, but not always in a good way. Both physical and mental toil require energy expenditure.

The mental/emotional work does not have to be traumatic in nature. It can be as simple as wanting to please, guarding one's words so as not to offend, being with someone who has an unpredictable temperament. Some of us have to gird our loins to go to parties where everyone else seems perfectly happy, because meeting new people is difficult for us. Some of us have a hard time telling the people we love how we honestly feel about something, because we need to protect the relationships. In both cases, we are tight and guarded. Furthermore, when we are mentally/emotionally tight and guarded, our physical bodies respond in kind.

Coming out of the holidays, we may feel exhausted, even if everything went well and we're happy. We have expended a lot of energy, both physical and mental. Our body/mind needs to rest and replenish. Too often we ignore this step in our process. We ask ourselves questions like, “What is wrong with me?” or “Why am I so tired?” and we dive right back into the stream of life as though we should be impervious to its effects. If you feel exhausted, it's because you are. That doesn't make you somehow strange, or less than dynamic. It's a normal state after exertion—it requires rest.

I hope you can give yourself some recovery time today. Time to be quiet, put your feet up, let the world get along without you for one day. You'll be surprised to see that tomorrow, you'll be more ready to take it on, and no one will have fallen into the abyss in your absence. Take a break. Have a day. Rest your soul.

                                                                In the Spirit,

                                                                        Jane