As I opened up a book during my morning centering time, I yawned, feeling that kind of waking-up morning tiredness where we are slowly emerging into a new day. It was fitting that my reading for the day was on the theme of tiredness.
This got me thinking about the different kinds of tiredness we experience. There's the morning tired, the tiredness after good exercise, or the tiredness from being mired in seemingly unsolvable problems. There’s the tiredness from not sleeping well or staying chronically busy. We get tired of routines and people who annoy us.
What kind of tired to you dealing with?
We live in a tired world. Our society is facing an epidemic of tiredness during these days of so much polarization, so many epic problems pressing on us, and seemingly so little kindness and fun.
As I was yawning, what I read in William Martin’s daily reflection on the Tao Te Ching was a different spin on the topic of tiredness. He reflected on the tiredness that is present as we live our lives spiritually:
It is not that we don’t become tired. It is that our tiredness has a different quality from the exhausted, run out, and depleted feeling that our tension-filled actions usually produce. We’re not trying as hard to push the river. We learn when to move quickly and when to slow down, when to act and when to rest—unaffected by the external pushes and pulls that used to dominate us.
It’s really helpful to sort out the kind of tired we are feeling at any time. And, strange as it may sound, reflecting on the nature and quality of our tiredness will probably help us not feel so tired. It’s a way of waking up to the patterns and impulses that wear us out, and then to think and act with more intention and awareness.
What kind of tired are you? Spending a few minutes with this question just might help you put a new spring in your step!