Turning Weariness Into Enthusiasm

If life's got you down this winter, follow these tips to transform your weariness into strength

Whether it's a personal day away from work, ordering dinner out, or time with the family, a day of rest is a breath of fresh air for the weary. Tatsiana Niamera/EyeEm/Getty Images

There’s a sense of weariness in the air. The news is chaotic and relentless. Skyrocketing prices are a drag. The list of things to conceivably worry about seems awfully long these days.

When you’re weary, you feel tired, as if your tank is empty and you don’t have the energy to face life’s demands with the same enthusiasm you usually do. You may find yourself making silly mistakes or treating others with less grace than you’d like to. Routine tasks seem to take longer, and you may find yourself avoiding things you know you shouldn’t. If you’re feeling somewhat weary as winter presses on, you’re not alone.

Of course, you’d rather not remain in this weary state. You might fantasize about taking drastic measures, such as quitting your stressful job or canceling all of your plans or giving up on your outlandish goals. But weariness isn’t a good state from which to make big decisions. In reality, you can usually take smaller, simpler actions to get out of your funk and back to your energized self, ready to face whatever life throws your way.

Rest

If you’re just pushing through the weariness, grinding yourself down as you go, take a day of rest. If your life is so busy that you need to schedule it, then schedule it. Find the next day possible that you will do nothing but rest. Get your family on board, take a personal day away from work, order dinner out, ask for help, do whatever you need to do to afford yourself a day of rest.

You’ll likely experience two phenomena: You’ll perk up just a bit having this day to look forward to—a light at the end of the tunnel. Secondly, you’ll actually allow yourself to rest when the time comes. To make the most of such a day, you might consider making it a screen-free day as well. Our screens tend to overstimulate us and siphon our energy. They also hinder our ability to sleep well.

A day of true rest—when’s the last time you had one of those?

Nourish

What have you been feeding yourself lately? When you’re weary, you tend to grab food that will comfort or satisfy a craving quickly. Your care for your food’s nutritional content dwindles, and it’s easy to get into a sugar-craving cycle in which we feel hungry (and even hangry) more often. This pattern becomes self-perpetuating as we grab more carbs.

Starting with your next meal, slow down and choose satiating and healthy foods. This is a great time for homemade chicken soup or even a healthy snack of cheese and nuts. Make sure you’re properly hydrated as well.

You may have lost track of what you’re eating. Some people find that logging their meals in a journal or a fitness app can help with identifying how to improve the quality of foods they’re nourishing their bodies with.

Tidy

The stuff that surrounds you can be a heavy burden to bear. The amount of stress and chaos emanating from your environment not only reflects your inner state, but exerts an impact upon it as well.

After you’ve rested, pop in some earbuds, choose something positive and uplifting to listen to, and spend some time tidying up your space. It’s almost comical how therapeutic and encouraging this can be.

As you go, keep an open bag or box handy to collect things you no longer want or need for donation or trash. Take note of even the smallest improvements you make as you go—a cleared-off counter, a pile of laundry put away, a drawer organized.

If things have been getting out of hand for a while, schedule other time slots when you’ll putter around your home tidying. When you’re weary, improving your outer environment little by little will foster a more positive inner environment.

Renegotiate

Hopefully, after taking good care of yourself and your surroundings, your outlook will begin to become at least a little more hopeful and your state calmer.

When that’s the case, take a look at your obligations, your schedule, your plans, and the things that you’ve got hanging overhead. Write them out in no particular order.

Identify the things on your list that have no business taking up your precious time and energy. Are you worried about something that’s really not that important? Are you obsessing over things you have no control over? Are you putting pressure on yourself to do unreasonable things within unreasonable timelines?

Look for things that you can completely let go of, renegotiate the details of things that are imposing too much pressure upon your life (either with yourself or other involved parties), and stretch out the deadlines of goals you’re aiming to achieve. You’re not giving up what’s important here, but rather summoning your bravery to take a look at what’s burdening you and reducing the pressure however possible.

Seek

It’s difficult to understand the state of the world today. Literally everyone has been through a set of tumultuous years, and the turmoil seems to have shifted in many ways but not subsided. It’s taxing and challenging to process amidst life’s regular challenges. No wonder you’re weary.

When you’re weary, seek higher wisdom. Take time to quiet your mind, awaken the very best parts of yourself, and ask for divine guidance.

As Ralph Marston once put it: “Rest when you’re weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.”