Abraham, Rachel, Soren and Liam. Our life together in Smalltown, Idaho.

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

To: Me From: Exhaustion

Dear Rachel,

The Tired here. I read what you wrote about me earlier. It's cute that you think I'm here as a teacher and a friend. Sad for you, I will only ever be your tormentor and arch nemesis. Bwahahahahahahaha! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I kid.

I'm actually glad to hear that you've decided to welcome me into your life. I realize I'm not your favorite, but I'm not going anywhere for a while, and it's for your own good. I do have a few things I want you to learn. And since I'm aware that you spend your days editing internet articles, I'll put this into a format I know you'll be comfortable with. Ahem.

7 Things I Am Trying To Teach You By Keeping You Insanely Tired All The Time

1. Your worth is not dependent on your accomplishments. 
For too many years, you have judged your worth as a human being by the number of items you've been able to check off your to-do list by the end of the day. You must learn that it is who you are, not what you do, that gives you value, that makes you precious and irreplaceable.

2. Identify your priorities. 
I have taken away all but a few of your precious hours each day. I've done this so that you can understand that there are many ways for you to spend your time, but just a few that will feed your soul and make the world a better place. Figure out what (more importantly, who) is most important to you, and strip life down to those essentials.

3. Be grateful.
Appreciate the feeling of the earth beneath your feet. Relish the sound of your husband's voice as he reads Matilda aloud to your son. Enjoy the antics of your coworkers. Appreciate little hands tucked into yours. Marvel at a sunset. Savor a life lived without pain, without hunger, in freedom, in sunlight. Focus on what you have, not on what you don't.

4. Take it one day at a time. 
Don't think about all the things you need to do in a week, a month, a year. Write down the things you want to accomplish and focus on what you need to do today, just today, to meet those goals. It is true that "through small and simple are great things brought to pass."

5. Know that you can do hard things.
You are strong. You are a warrior. Even when life is hard, you can do it. Even when dreams are hard, you can chase them. Find a way. If a paraplegic can complete an Iron Man, you can write a novel.

6. Nurture yourself.
Give yourself permission to nap when you need to. Feed yourself good food, even when I tell you it would be so much easier to just eat cereal. Sit and read sometimes. Listen to NPR while you cook dinner. Dance with the kids. Allow music and poetry to percolate in your soul. Sit. Breathe.

7. Fear is not your friend. 
Fear is wrapped up in all of the above, in one form or another, but I will tell you now: fear has nothing to offer you. It will only ever hurt you, strip you of hope, leave you alone, and suck away your strength. Put it down. Walk away. Don't look back.

And that, my friend, pretty much summarizes the lessons I'm currently planning on teaching you. I'm excited for us to spend time together exploring these essentials. And who knows? Maybe more lessons will emerge in the process. But I promise you this: When we're done here, you will be glad I came. Because I will have made it possible for you to live a fuller, richer, deeper life.

You're welcome.

Your Friend,

The Tired


4 comments:

Asa said...

Now that I know you are only susceptible to things posted in a certain format, I feel obligated to write things to you in that format. For easier reading. As such, I have a question.

[Insert nice dot here] You said that for too long you based your worth off of accomplishing things on your to-do list. But what makes your to-do list worthwhile? Not saying it isn't, but it's the fact that they benefit the people you do them for that makes them worth the effort, right? So who are you trying to prove your worth to? God? Yourself? Your husband? Your children? Your neighbors? The internet, I.E. The masses? I feel like you are already worth a lot to all of those people, (with the possible exception of the internet. It's never satisfied with anything.) Just ask yourself if your children value their mother. My point being that IMHO worth is not something that can be proven. It's inherent. It's something you already are. A long way to say I agree with what you are doing.

[insert nice dot here] I don't actually have another question. I think. Just additional comments. Like nice job on this blog post! You're exceptionally fun to read.

[insert nice dot here] Okay, I think that's everything.

mjMEDIC said...

This is so good! What a neat perspective to have! I'll have to remember it when I'm going through something less pleasant.

mjMEDIC said...

This is so good! What a neat perspective to have! I'll have to remember it when I'm going through something less pleasant.

Natalya said...

I read this before I read the previous post about tired.
Sounds like you're doing the only thing that can be done!
Who knows, maybe if you conquer this mountain, it will go away! (That's always my hope when I'm trying to "embrace" a trial.) Like, haha! I've got this! And the tribulation melts away behind you.
I could make a better analogy here, I'm sensing, but I would rather read more than write. See ya!

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...