June 24
I want to go to bed and not get up for a month. Honestly, if no one bothered me, I could sleep from now until the middle of July. I am JUST THAT TIRED.
It's not like I don't know why: working full time; going to school; going to clinicals; starting this new relationship (or whatever we're doing), organizing stuff for PIR; trying to keep my house just clean enough so the health department doesn't come to condemn it; and trying to keep up with laundry just enough that we don't have to go buy new underwear.
And I'm not alone; I don't know anyone who isn't tired most of the time. You run into a friend at the grocery store and ask her how she's doing. Nine out of ten times the first thing you'll hear is "I'm so tired" followed by a litany of things she's doing and a longer list of things she needs to do.
We all live on caffeine and carbs just to get through the day.
I wonder if our ancestors were tired all the time like we are. They had rough lives. They were farmers or laborer for the most part. They were up with the sun and worked hard all day. They worked in factories or on the railroad or in coal mines. Not an air-conditioned factory like we have now. Not a largely automated railroad like we have. Even coal mines -- as awful a job as that is even today -- are better than they were a hundred years ago.
Maybe they just figured being tired was a part of life. Maybe they just didn't expect anything different. They didn't expect lfe to be easy so they weren't surprised when it wasn't. Like the old saying goes, "Set your expectations low and you'll never be disappointed."
We, on the other hand, have set our expectations way to high. We are looking for unattainable, unreasonable goals: we expect to never be inconvenienced; we expect everything to go the way we want it to; we expect to live well -- just because we deserve it.
Hit every traffic light between home and work? The whole morning is shot. The dog puked on the rug? The whole day is shot. Lose your cell phone, BlackBerry, Palm Pilot? OMG, the whole WEEK is shot.
Because all of those are inconveniences. Not one of those is a major event. It's not a flood that washed away your barn and all your crops. It's not an explosion at the factory. It's not a mine cave in. It's a blip on the radar screen of life, but you'd think it was the flood, the explosion and the cave in all rolled in to one!
We're not tired we're soft! We don't have the intestinal fortitude of the people who have gone before us. There will never be another generation like that of our grandparents and great grandparents.
The generation that lived during World War II will never be duplicated. They did what they did because it had to be done. There was no discussion, no question, no WHINING. Faced with their situation, we would cuss, discuss, committee and debate it to DEATH.
I, for one, am extremely happy with my life. I have a safe place to sleep, abundant food, good friends, healthy children and a meaningful job. Complaining about being tired all the time is just a habit. And it's a BAD habit. And it's a bad habit I'm going to lose because...
...today is a GREAT day and I'm happy to be here.
It's not like I don't know why: working full time; going to school; going to clinicals; starting this new relationship (or whatever we're doing), organizing stuff for PIR; trying to keep my house just clean enough so the health department doesn't come to condemn it; and trying to keep up with laundry just enough that we don't have to go buy new underwear.
And I'm not alone; I don't know anyone who isn't tired most of the time. You run into a friend at the grocery store and ask her how she's doing. Nine out of ten times the first thing you'll hear is "I'm so tired" followed by a litany of things she's doing and a longer list of things she needs to do.
We all live on caffeine and carbs just to get through the day.
I wonder if our ancestors were tired all the time like we are. They had rough lives. They were farmers or laborer for the most part. They were up with the sun and worked hard all day. They worked in factories or on the railroad or in coal mines. Not an air-conditioned factory like we have now. Not a largely automated railroad like we have. Even coal mines -- as awful a job as that is even today -- are better than they were a hundred years ago.
Maybe they just figured being tired was a part of life. Maybe they just didn't expect anything different. They didn't expect lfe to be easy so they weren't surprised when it wasn't. Like the old saying goes, "Set your expectations low and you'll never be disappointed."
We, on the other hand, have set our expectations way to high. We are looking for unattainable, unreasonable goals: we expect to never be inconvenienced; we expect everything to go the way we want it to; we expect to live well -- just because we deserve it.
Hit every traffic light between home and work? The whole morning is shot. The dog puked on the rug? The whole day is shot. Lose your cell phone, BlackBerry, Palm Pilot? OMG, the whole WEEK is shot.
Because all of those are inconveniences. Not one of those is a major event. It's not a flood that washed away your barn and all your crops. It's not an explosion at the factory. It's not a mine cave in. It's a blip on the radar screen of life, but you'd think it was the flood, the explosion and the cave in all rolled in to one!
We're not tired we're soft! We don't have the intestinal fortitude of the people who have gone before us. There will never be another generation like that of our grandparents and great grandparents.
The generation that lived during World War II will never be duplicated. They did what they did because it had to be done. There was no discussion, no question, no WHINING. Faced with their situation, we would cuss, discuss, committee and debate it to DEATH.
I, for one, am extremely happy with my life. I have a safe place to sleep, abundant food, good friends, healthy children and a meaningful job. Complaining about being tired all the time is just a habit. And it's a BAD habit. And it's a bad habit I'm going to lose because...
...today is a GREAT day and I'm happy to be here.
Views: 1
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Comment by Dianne (Drew's Mom) on June 30, 2008 at 9:07am -
My grandparents got married in 1924. They raised a family through the depression and never complained. Everyone helped everyone else. Their first child had diarrhea from the day he was born. He died at six months old in my grandfather's arms. They moved on to have five more children. My grandmother sewed clothing and patchwork quilts non-stop. She had eye problems and couldn't, or wouldn't spend the money for care, so eventually she went blind. She had glaucoma and cataracts in both eyes. My grandfather was deaf. He was her eyes, she was his ears. When I was 9 years-old, they came over to our house on Christmas Eve, and we enjoyed a evening filled with family warmth, love, and joy. When they were leaving, I went outside to watch them leave. My grandmother fell coming down the front steps. I was scared. I hid behind a tree. My grandfather and parents helped her up. Then, I'll never forget this ... she cried. I thought the world was ending. It had to be. I had never, ever seen my grandparents cry. They didn't cry; they were products of the depression ... they were used to hardship. She was crying and telling my mother she was scared, scared of living in the dark and of what would happen to her if something happened to my grandfather. My mother was hugging her, which was also weird because they didn't hug, well, not the long comforting hugs that we are used to now.
That year my grandparents gave me a beautiful doll with blonde hair and fish net stockings, and paper dolls. I wanted to save them forever, since I was convinced that it would be my grandmother's last Christmas.
I don't remember what happened to the paper dolls, but my younger, tomboy sister shaved all the hair off my doll and put black permanent markers on its head. Such is life.
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Comment by Andrea on June 30, 2008 at 2:42pm -
Tina you make a great point. We all have control over our lives....we really do. We can shut off our cell phones. our TV's, our computers, and just have some quiet time to ourselves. We make our lives stressful. We all would benefit from a little "down time" each day. Years ago life was so much simplier. I enjoyed my childhood. I didn't have a computer and cell phones or pagers or video games. I have wonderful memories of baking cookies with my Mom and playing dolls with my friends. I agree we need to adapt new habits to slow down, go a day without all of the technology, help a stranger or your neighbor. When I grew up, my neighbors were always pitching in to help each other out. Today, I'm so sorry to say, it seems everyone is self absorbed that it is just an effort to way hello, forget to offer to rake some leaves together or help shovel you out in a snow storm. It's a good day because I have decided to enjoy a much simplier life.
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