Do You Ever Feel Worn Out?

I don’t care what stage of life you are in, how old you are, or how young you are, I’m SURE you’ve felt worn out!

I know I sure have! Different circumstances in life bring that worn out feeling in us pretty strongly sometimes, don’t they?

I can definitely look back on times in my life when I have felt worn out. I remember times when our schedule was so busy, I couldn’t make heads or tails of it in my head, but somehow, I got my body to each thing, but not sure about my head…still looking for that one sometimes :)…

But then in all truth, there have been times as a mom and just as a heart failure patient, that I have felt worn out. I vividly remember holding Mazy in our old house, walking around, trying to get her to stop crying. She at that point was literally crying for hours, with only just little spurts in between of silence. I remember, with tears streaming down my face, completely exhausted, since she did not sleep well, wondering how am I going to get through this? Then I remember a friend telling me: minute-by-minute, and one hour at a time. That day, I remembered seeing it was 1 o’clock and then I remember seeing it was 2 o’clock. I made it one hour. And the hour after that, and the hour after that.

But I was worn out.

I had a similar feeling in the hospital, on Thursday, November 2, 2017. I had just gone through a round of tests, and this thing called “the swan” inserted into my neck, with no sedation. I also needed a TEE, where they put a tube down your throat to get a better look at the heart, and I was told they were not going to sedate because my vitals were too unstable. I straight up told the doctor, I can’t do it. I couldn’t take ANY more pain. You bet, I chickened out. And I wasn’t going to back down. I was a woman of few words since I was so weak, but thankfully my nurse at the time recognized the situation and vouched me, saying I couldn’t do it without sedation. I was worn out. (And yes, they indeed sedated me and I woke up saying “I didn’t feel a THING!”

We can all go back to a time in our life when we have felt worn out. From, well, you name it! So how do we get out of those ruts? How do we pick ourselves back up, to keep going? I’ve heard from many people those same things – feeling so worn out, wondering how they are going to get through the next minute. The next hour.

Okay, enough Kristin, get to the solutions! I know this is going to be different for everyone, but I just wanted to share today, some of the things that have helped me in times of feeling worn out.

1. Say No. Or if you can’t say no, make it easier on yourself. You seriously can’t do it all. That saying is so common in the social media: how you can do it all. We look at certain people and think, but they seriously do it ALL! You know what? They don’t. We can all portray ourselves to be a certain someone, but truly, no one does it all. Maybe you don’t have time for supper – nothing wrong with getting a pizza! Maybe you have to bring a food item somewhere and you ALWAYS make something homemade. Don’t! Buy it! That next thing you get asked to do. Kindly say no. Just do it!
2. Take a deep breath. No seriously. Take a DEEP breath. Breath in through your nose and slowly exhale out of your mouth. And now laugh because I know that sounds ridiculous. But this is something I learned to do in cardiac rehab (we even did breathing exercises) because stress is one of the worst things we can do to our heart. So literally taking a deep breath, in a tense and worn out situation, can make all the difference! Just breathe!
3. Do something that refreshes you. This is a huge one for me! The times when I feel most worn out, it’s because I hadn’t been able to do what refreshes me. Guilt-free. And that’s the key point! Not worth doing it, if you’re just going to have the stress of feeling guilty about it later! Some of the things I enjoy doing to get refreshed? Typing away on a keyboard. Taking a walk. Sitting in a coffee shop. Curl up to a good book. Mindlessly do something. You bet…having some mindless and unproductive moments in my life, are so refreshing! Anyways, I love to take drives. Take a shower. Just sit on our porch and watch the world go by. Many of these things include just BEING, and I find that’s how I best refresh myself!
4. Remember you can’t do it alone. Do you really believe that? Do you let people into your life? Or are you afraid of what they are going to see? Being vulnerable is not easy and for me, it takes practice. And I still stink at it sometimes! Being to the point when I couldn’t care for myself, was really a wake-up call to me! So now if someone offers to do something, I try to find a time to take them up on their offer and accept whatever they are offering with humbleness. Or if the timing is off or I really am okay, I thank them for being willing to walk the journey with me. Though I was once told, denying someone’s offer of help, could be squashing the spirit of giving that God is creating in them!
5. Seasons. Indeed, life is all about seasons. Chapters. They will close. Some may be life-long seasons, but the ups and downs of those seasons, will bring relief and comfort. A season of life. That we know will, in some way, come to a close.

Mama, friend, sister in Christ, Christian, you’ve got this. Think of where you are in life. I know you’ve felt worn out. And maybe that season is NOW for you. But all I have to say is YOU’VE GOT THIS! When I was struggling immensely to get through a test this past fall, at times losing consciousness due to pain, I remember Dan telling me, Kristin, you can do 10 minutes. Get through 10 minutes. Then it was 5 because I wasn’t sure I could do 10. But YOU’VE GOT THIS. Keep going. The other side will prove itself a triumph and worth every step of the way!

Top photo source