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Tired? You bet! I am tired all of the time.
I'm tired when I get up, and when I go to bed I'm the worst kind of tired. I get tired when I'm exercising. Tired of doing nothing. Tired because I am working hard. Tired! Tired! Tired!
Right now, I am bone-tired—and that is the worst kind of tiredness. It always sneaks up on me. Being bone-tired is more than being achingly tired—whatever that means.
Does the summary above say it for you? Is that the reason you clicked on this "tired" word? Do you frequently find yourself with too many of these conditions?
If your answer is yes, there are two important questions for you to consider.
- Do you think your tiredness is excessive?
- Do you have about the right amount of tiredness for the amount of energy you expend?
If the latter is true, you have very little to worry about—unless you want to get an easier job.
If you are excessively tired beyond the level of tiredness you ought to have, you need to know why? See if these questions help:
Could you be allergic to a food you frequently eat?
I found that about twelve hours after I eat pork, I get bone-tired. I can barely put one foot ahead of the other. My legs feel weak. I have no energy. I feel temporarily anemic. It is a terrible feeling.
It was when I went to a food allergist that I discovered that pork is not good for me. Check it out. If a particular food is a problem, you need to know it because there is definitely something you can do about it. I grew up eating pork. Not any more. I am “tired” of eating pork.
Is your tiredness caused by heavy travel? Check yourself with a few telling questions:
What time zone are you in?
How many hours have you been up—without sleep?
What day is this?
Where are you right now?
Where are you going?
If you are generally in touch with reality on such questions, your tiredness can get worse than it is now. You can get so tired that you have no accurate answers to these and other similar questions.
Check yourself on a variety of common causes of tiredness:
___Are you over-worked?
___Under-rested?
___Bored? ___Frustrated? ___Fed-up? ___Disgusted?
___Is someone imposing upon you?
___Has one or a combination of pressures caught up with you?
___Do you feel drained?
Too much of any one of these—or a combination of several—can shoot tiredness right through to the bone.
If one of the above conditions says it for you, put a check mark by it, or better still, circle it.
If none of these ring true for you, name your own reason for being so tired and write it on this line.
____________________________________
When you have circled a cause or named a new one by writing it above, you need to decide what you will do, and take action!
At various times when Jesus faced the situation of tiredness—maybe He was even bone-tired—he knew exactly what to do. He took three explicit types of action to attend to his tiredness:
- Jesus chose to go to a quiet place when he felt the need to be alone.
- He also protected himself through prayer.
- He shielded himself from additional pressure by going across the lake away from the crowds.
Jesus frequently took one of these unique and effective steps. Perhaps only two steps will do for us:
- Pinpoint the reason you are tired to the bone.
- Decide what you will do about it—and do it quickly!
Be sure not to ignore No. 2, immediately above. After all, doing nothing will only compound your tiredness—by making you tired of being tired!
If you are tired of reading this, do what you need to do!) |
