I have recently come to understand that fatigue is caused by so many factors, with sleep just being one of them. Nutrition, exercise, hormones, stress -- they all play a large factor on your level of energy on a day to day basis. But one of the largest factors, which I don't think is talked about nearly enough, is the MENTAL load that so many of us carry. I'm talking about the to-do list of minutia that each of us have in our brains in a running fashion, that feels like it never ends (and without which, our families just may not function). I'm talking about the doctors' appointments, the grocery runs, the cooking, the laundry, the birthday parties, the after-school sports and activities, the teacher conferences, the homework help, your own self-care which includes exercising, making time to socialize, on top of your paying job...the list is literally endless (and let's not forget it's not just the doing of each -- but the planning, the scheduling, the getting to and from, that also goes into each). I mean, just writing it all down has my head spinning and makes me want to crawl back into bed, never to emerge. Right?!
It's no wonder we are all walking around exhausted. Let's face it, saying "we have a lot on our plates" is literally an understatement.
So what to do? How do we do all this and still feel like a million bucks? The answer is, unless your are superhuman, sometimes it's just not possible. So either we let some things off that list slide, we learn to delegate, or we realize that we have a lot on our plate and give ourselves a little grace -- i.e., next time someone says, "You seem so tired," you respond with "Yes, I am, and that's OK because my life is FULL." With that, we are acknowledging our effort, but also embracing the fact that we are so fortunate to have a family that we can take care of, the means to purchase and prepare healthy food, insurance to take our kids to the doctor, friends to celebrate birthdays with, good schools to teach our children well, the ability to move our bodies to keep ourselves healthy, and enough money to afford a roof over our heads and warm clothes.
So yes, I may be exhausted in this season of life, but I am grateful, and I am happy. I hope you are too.