“Fatigue makes fools of us all. It robs us of our skills,our judgement, and blinds us to creative solutions.”
Harvey Mackay
Who does not complain of tiredness today? Everyone is tired. From young children, to the middle aged and the elderly. But tired of what? Tired of making effort? Tired of coping with the stress and strains of daily living? Or just tired of life itself? Then, perhaps we have not understood the meaning of life at all.
When we make life a game, then there is fun and only more fun. We all need realistic and doable aims, but when we get serious and start making unrealistic plans filled with expectations, that is when we are setting ourselves up for trouble. That is when we start losing the joy of living.
Look at children when they are at play. They are engrossed in the game and really enjoy the moment of ‘just being’ present. Plus, they are actually learning a lot of social skills about how to interact with others whilst at play. When we make learning too formalised, then life becomes too rigid, and we are bound to become unhappy. We lose the joy of playing the game of life; really happiness is not in the winning but in participation in the game.
“That’s what learning is, after all; not whether we lose the game, but howwe lose and how we’ve changed because of it, and what we take away fromit that we never had before, to apply to other games. Losing, in a curious way is winning.”
Richard Bach
As we develop more and more self-respect, we begin to value all our energies. We are cautious about not wasting those energies. The biggest reason for tiredness is our state of mind and thinking too much, or not thinking the right thing, or not thinking in the right way. As we begin to manage our thinking better and think less, or even learn how to think before we think, then we begin to change our attitude towards everything and we become light and enlightened.
A tired mind creates a tired and boring life. If we are already tired in our mind, before we begin anything, then what energy can we give to the task? Often, we can be tired thinking about the jobs we need to do, more than in the actual doing!
What happens when you go on vacation? Even if the flight is at 2.00 am, you will be raring to go. You will forsake your sleep and food to ensure that you are there on time for the flight. Why? Because you are excited, and your mind is set towards enjoyment and relaxation… and not effort. Basically, the mind is geared up for play and adventure and that is why we are not tired. The whole drama of the journey is another matter. But, in a way, we sort of enjoy that too.
The same is true for playing sports. We will energetically chase a ball or run a race or swim for miles. We do not think of becoming tired then, do we? Interestingly, exercise and movement are not only good for the body, but they clear the brain fog and enable us to think more clearly.
We actually thrive on newness. Think about it. How happy would you be to eat the same meal every day? In the same way the mind needs newness and challenges to grow. Meditation is a tool that helps us to recharge the mind. With just one click of a thought we can change the tired mind into an enthusiastic mind.
So, the moral is, let us learn to love what we do, to make better choices about what and how we do the things we do, and then we will find that we are less tired.
Courtesy of
itstimetomeditate.orgAruna Ladva is an author and the director of Rajyoga meditation centres in Kuwait and Egypt.