Returning from Thanksgiving I was exhausted. I told myself it was just exhaustion from having had several weeks of sleepless nights prior to the trip, combined with the the drama of dealing with a myriad of problems while on the trip (such as the kids and grandkids flight getting cancelled, the redeye rebookings to a nearby State and a long car ride and barely making it in time for Thanksgiving dinner, as well as last minute meeting cancellations and more flight rebookings, etc.). My body was going on almost no sleep and I was dehydrated from travel but I thought surely a good nights sleep back in my own bed and I’d be feeling just fine again…
But the next day I wasn’t feeling fine…I was tired…exhausted would be a more accurate word. So I slept…not just for a night, but for several days. I’d get up and try doing the smallest things and already be wiped out again. So back into bed I would go…sleep some more…but no matter how much I seemed to sleep I just couldn’t regain my energy.
I took my temperature more times than I could count – no fever. Every few hours I’d check to make sure I could still taste and smell – I could. But my lack of energy made me think surely it was COVID. I told myself I was just being paranoid and that calmed my mind for a bit, but then I’d be back Googling testing centers until my husband would assure me I didn’t have it and was just tired from doing too much and only needed rest. Problem was every time I tried to rest all the wondering and worrying was keeping me awake staring up at the ceiling…the mental drain of worry was sapping my energy worse than the physical drain I was feeling.
It’s a vicious cycle how physical health affects mental health, and mental health impacts physical health. That’s why our spiritual health is so incredibly important – it is the best way to disrupt that cycle.
After many days of kneeling at my bedside in prayer thanking God for my blessings, sharing my worries with Him, and making pleas He’d help my energy return again soon….slowly but surely, it began to.
Increasing your spiritual health is the fastest way to regain balance when your scale is tipped by mental and/or physical health struggles. So for those who are feeling off balance from the worry, anxiety, and upheavals of 2020, here’s a great big spiritual boost to help you regain some balance. (PS. there’s no words to describe how incredible this short music video is…its the perfect boost!!!)
~Amy Rees Anderson (author of the book “What Awesome Looks Like: How To Excel in Business & Life” )