Sometimes you can be hugely tired…

I just couldn't resist the pun...some of you are still trying to get the humor in my title combined with the picture.

I’m not sure if the grammar is correct, but there is some truth to the statement. We can get to a point where we are beyond the normal tired.

I just saw a show about it…

It was the Dick Van Dyke show, and in the episode Rob tries to stay awake for 100 hours to break a record. It was hilarious, but it was also a reminder of how we can get to a state of exhaustion.

Sometimes the issue is because we have an oversize load…

We are working, too much. We put in that extra hour at the office, or we put in a few weekend hours at the house to catch up. We keep adding responsibilities to our list to climb the ladder of success and forget about other things. Keep working, but add space to your work.

We worry, too much. This one bugs me! I seem to get over it and then it quickly creeps in and messes up my day. It’s a huge pain, and I dislike it a lot. We get in a rut of thinking about what isn’t and don’t focus on what is. Worry drives me crazy, and no matter how hard I fight it, I fail miserably in this area...sometimes. Don’t worry, let God.

We travel, in our jobs, too much. I have been here in a few different positions. One required travel across the country to several different States. Another required a lot of travel within the State of Tennessee (this one had me on the road the most). Others have been just travel within the mid-state area that I live. All three can get out of balance and add overload and stress to our lives. Travel, if you have to, but be home when your home.

We agree to take more on, too much. This could be in our jobs, at home, with friends, family or in our church. We can’t agree to do everything. We have to set limits and keep the right focus on what is important, in our lives, or we will feel overloaded. Before you agree to one more task, meeting, get-together, event, duty or anything else, you must consider your balance. Take on just what you are supposed to take on.

We work in our church, too much. That’s sounds completely wrong...shouldn't we work in our church? Of course we should, but even this needs a balance, or we will feel tired and overloaded. We can’t do it all in a ministry, especially, if we are volunteer, part-time help. We need to go into what God wants us to do and do it, and not take it all on. Minister with a balance, but be sure to minister.

We try to work in our own strength, too much. This is another one of my failures. That’s two today (at least). I think I can manage. There are two parts to this. One is that we don’t seek the Lord and His Grace to help us as we work in a role (parent, leader), position (job) or ministry (any helper role in church or other volunteer spot). We don’t have the abilities without God. The other side of this, is the area of others - we need to delegate and ask for help. We can’t do it all, or burnout, stress, overload, etc. come in. Ask God for His strength.

We sleep, too little, too much. Do you go nights on end with less sleep than you should? Do you go to bed late and get up early? Do you feel tired most of the day? Do you feel like you never get enough rest? We probably aren’t getting the best sleep, nor the right amount of sleep. We could be taking small naps to help, or just focusing on better sleep. Sleep more.

We add to our list, too much. Another big fail. I put my list together and then get another idea and add it to the bottom, or juggle the list to fit it in, and my list never ends. Simple thought - start a new list. You will feel more refreshed if you finish one list and then start another. We can’t get everything done each day, so set your list for today or this week and then start a new one. Finish one list at a time.

Don’t take any of these wrong. Most of them are things we should be doing, but sometimes we get out of balance and our load gets too large, because we have taken on too much.

Notice that most of these are easily controlled by our own choices and the load can be balanced and lightened when we’re wise with our choices. It’s not easy, but we we see the load get too heavy, check the load and make sure that you actually need to be carrying it like you are, or at all.

Lessons Learned: Don’t get hugely tired. Balance your life and all you do. I’m more tired just writting this.

Thoughts: Are you hugely tired? Do you ever get overwhelmed? 

#failalot