Empty Fatigue Or Gratifying Exhaustion?

Recently, I heard of the unexpected passing of multiple people – some old, others young. The one thing many of them had in common is that no one saw death coming and there was no reason to expect it given their age and fitness levels.

All these pieces of news remind me of the brevity of life and how so ‘not in control’ we truly are. None of us can add to our days although we can make choices that can increase the risk of shortening our lives.

Any time I think of the brevity of life, I also think about those moments leading up to a person’s final breath. What goes through their minds about what they spent their lives on? What do they wish they had said or done? Where do they wish they travelled to? What changes do they wish they made at key stages in their lives?

What fears held them back that now seems silly and do they wish they had spent their time differently or more wisely?

I meet many people who tell me how exhausted they feel and there are many days when I completely understand what they mean; days when I can barely keep my eyes open and end up flopping on to a couch.

But there are two types of exhaustions depending on what I get up to that day. There was a day I slept at 2am after hours of creative work. I was exhausted but wanted to carry on. The only thing that made me go to bed was knowing that I needed to get some sleep. Even as I crawled to bed, I felt fulfilled, happy and gratified; grateful even, that things had fallen into place and I achieved a lot.

This leads me to a quote that I came across which says, “There’s a big difference between empty fatigue and gratifying exhaustion. Life is short. Invest in meaningful activities that move you.” Marc and Angel

This is such a powerful reminder to us all. We have choices to make in terms of how we use our time especially with so many things and people competing for our attention. With time being a limited resource, we need to invest it wisely.

There are a few questions we can bear in mind when our time needs to be spent.

Does this activity matter to me and will it move me towards my goals?

Will this activity drain me of priceless energy or will it invigorate me? What meaning does it have for me and does it align to my purpose and dreams? Is this activity intended to serve me or others that I care about? Is this activity intended to serve humanity?

Am I just doing this activity only because it is expected of me? Is it the responsible and wise thing to do? Will this activity bring my joy and peace or is it likely to bring chaos into my life? Am I about to do something because it would make me look good or because I truly care?

Am I doing things so that people can take notice and compliment me? Am I doing things to show off, to prove that I belong or to be accepted or loved? Is this an essential ‘need to do’ activity for life?

Your answers to these types of questions will help you make better choices by paying more attention to your motives.

You can also apply the questions to people because there are people who will drain us of energy and there are those who will invigorate us. There are people who will champion us unconditionally and there are those who begrudge our successes. There are those who will pile guilt on us so they can get their ways and there are those who will get out of our way so we can be all that we are created to be.

There are friends you talk to and you leave energised, pumped to build a better future for yourself and there are those whose conversations leave you feeling worthless regardless of what you’ve achieved.

Spending your time wisely is about how you spend your time which comprises of what and who you spend your time on. With time being so priceless, we need to pay more attention to make sure any fatigue or exhaustion is essential and worthwhile.

We must learn to number our days. There are things we need to do – earn a living, do activities that support our physical, mental, spiritual and emotional health and for these things, we will do well to invest in them. As I finished this post on a train, a young man waiting to get off the train said to his partner, ‘I am so tired’ and I smiled, tempted to ask him if it was a ‘good tired’ or a ‘bad tired’. There wasn’t time to ask him but it validated the need for this post.

As we start a new month which will close out the first half of the year, this is a great time to reflect and make changes if we need to. Thanks for reading my post. Have a wonderful week.