Thirty Minute Thoughts: What Tired Reveals

We’re sticking with the real life happenings.
I did not sleep well last night. No special or intense reason, just one of those nights, and now just one of those days.

I find the sensations of being tired some of those most annoying. There’s a lot of things I would rather be than tired. It’s not the getting up that I find challenging or the most annoying part. It doesn’t start until late morning that I think... Why is this happening to me? (Dramatic, I know, it really isn’t THAT bad.) Well, it’s about that time as I set my timer and sit down to write. The mid-morning tired blues are starting. The eye-lids are feeling heaving and I can hear my bed whispering my name from downstairs where I sit. Because I don’t want today to be a wash, I figured I’d use this time of writing as a double exercise. Writing and learning from the sensations of being tired.

Given that my brand is called Curious Catalyst, and I am consistently telling people “Your curiosity IS your catalyst.” Let’s apply those same principles to the current situation: What does feeling tired reveal to me?

Negative Thought-Loops: I know that on days when I feel tired I need to raise my vigilance around my thoughts and what I allow myself to ponder. I can get caught in the negative loops of thinking. Situations can appear more stressful or dire than they actually are, and I can loose myself in a sense of hopelessness or despair.

Laziness: On tired days I rely on my discipline and integrity to my commitments. I tend to want to laze about and watch movies, colour, watch a podcast... anything that involves my lounging around in bed or under weighted blanket on the couch. Maybe even drift in and out of consciousness while something plays. However, it’s rare that I don’t sleep well on the weekend (funny how that works 🤔) and so there are things to show up for and others to be done. Even days, like today, when I don’t have any client calls, doesn’t mean there is no work to do, but it would be so easy to push it off, tell myself I “deserve” to rest and tomorrow I can get back to it.

While this isn’t untrue, and some days it is what’s needed, more often than not it’s not actually the choice that should be made. These are the moments I practice self-discipline and consistency for.

The little Gremlin: Ok ok, so it’s actually Ghrelin, but this one is simply biological, when we don’t get enough sleep (even for one night) our body produces more ghrelin, trying to get more energy from food. So yeah.. I noticed that I tend to me more snacky and want all the sugars and carbs. Sticking to my routine and meal plan is what keeps the body healthy when the mind is temporarily out of service and the hormones think they run the show. 😅

I’m noticing a theme here: When we’ve set ourselves up for success on our good days. Developed the routine, the discipline, the internal guardrails, then things don’t totally go off the rails on the bad days. We just follow the same path we’ve been walking.
I’m envisioning a hiking trail or one of those old wagon roads, where the tracks that the wheels go over again and again have become grooves in the ground and as long as you just follow the groove you’ll get there without detour. (ok, maybe not the best analogy, but the brain is tired.)

Maybe not the most fascinating thoughts, but if you made it this far, I hope there was something in there for you. I know that I feel a lot of gratitude for myself right now and the habits I’ve developed. Writing this out has made me realize I really have developed a life where I set myself up for success, on the good days AND the bad days.

Peace out!

✌🏼