What to do when you’re tired

I’m tired. I’ll bet you are, too, so you’re semi-mindlessly scanning posts to feel either invigorated or validated. I’m doing the same thing, only I do it by writing.

It’s a nicer version of complaining. On the positive side, you might feel perkier by reading about how tired I am.

The school year has started up again, and if you’re a parent, a student, or a teacher, YOU ARE TIRED. I shouldn’t complain, because at least we enjoyed a change of pace during the summer. People think teachers don’t work during the summer (not true!) but that’s fodder for another type of blog. Let’s just say, I caught up on my sleep, and now I’m exhausted again.

This is the part of the blog where I should give good advice about how to overcome tiredness. Or in my case, this is where I need you to post a comment about how to overcome tiredness, because I stink at it. Please, I beg you, alleviate my exhaustion with wisdom not yet discovered by me!

You’ll say something like:

• no electronics before bedtime–set a time to stop, like an hour before bed
• exercise daily (alternate days with stretching, yoga, and cardio)
• no caffeine in the evening
• go to bed early (by 10:00), before your sleep/wake routine starts over
• leave the house tidy at bedtime so your mornings go smoothly
• take medication (but be careful because your body adapts and you’ll have to keep taking higher doses)
• read in bed until your eyes get heavy
• drink wine
• drink hot milk
• play music in the morning
• drink coffee in the morning

Am I hitting everything?

Well, I’m an insomniac, so advice about resting doesn’t resonate as well with me as it does with other people. If you can sleep well every night, bless you.

And with that, I need to go start my day with some stretches, take a walk, listen to Jesus music, read a Psalm, and give up control to God in my prayers. I should jot down the things I’m thankful for and plan one kind thing to do for someone else today, spend quality time with the people I love. All those things create positive endorphins–they change my attitude, they make me restful in my spirit, they calm my mind before bedtime.

They might take my whole day to do, but maybe if I practice them daily, I’ll get faster at them. And one day soon, I’ll be able to start my work day before lunch. In a healthy manner.

That could happen. That should happen.

Take a listen to Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O’Connor sing “Good Morning” in Singing in the Rain (1952) or Gordan MacRae sing “O What a Beautiful Morning” in Oklahoma (1955). A blast from the past is also big perk–my mom and I watched musicals from the 1950s all the time. These songs bring back great memories.

What about you? Good morning, in the perkiest Gene Kelly kind of way. I hope you have a cheerful and alert day. Shake of your tiredness and do something about it.