Janathon the Results - Bone Tired

Bone Tired

I started the year making a commitment to Janathon, I was going to exercise and blog every day. Instead of New Years Resolutions I decided on the One Word method and chose Self-Nurture. 

Out of a month with 31 days I did vigorous exercise for 18 days, I think I should get some sort of bonus for those days being wet and grey January ones. I have learned a new buzz word from mixing with runners - 'recovery time,' the time it takes to get your breath back after a run.

I'm tired - not from the exercise, that actually made me feel better, just bone tired I guess.

When we say we’re “bone tired”, what does that really mean?

It means tired to our core, not just sleepy.  It refers to a feeling of depletion – that we’ve drawn upon our vital stores of energy, which are now in need of replenishment.

' A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.'

 Proverbs 17:21

I think this is so true. But sometimes even when we try to carry on we get a weariness that everyone can relate to. It’s the kind that no amount of sleep can get rid of. We work hard to try and build a better and more successful life, and when that hard work just isn’t enough, we work harder. As a result, life burns us out. For those of us who are so tired, we can feel it in our bones.

In the Bible, the book of Ezekiel talks about dry bones being brought back to life.  ”Ruah” means both breath and spirit – “the divine animating force without which no life is possible.”

What do you do when you feel that vital force is missing.

"Lower your standards." This advice, though difficult to hear, has been one of the most important guidelines for me. It helped me choose to let the floor go upswept, the dishes unwashed, the bed unmade, while I wrote a story, or studied, or even just went for a walk in the woods. When I do the things I want to do I have LOTS more energy. 

What are you doing that saps your strength and erodes your delight in life? 

Finding a way to quit activities that leave you feeling stressed and out of sorts is difficult. The painful truth of carrying on when you are drained is that you find that you can for a while. But over time you find that you can carry burdens for short periods of time and that smaller problems push you over the edge.

So I called in reinforcements, bought some charcoal and a new exercise DVD - just to jazz things up a bit and left the ironing for another day.