Is it possible to love when you’re tired? I’m too tired to think, feel or do anything, can I still actively love someone? Some days I ought to smile more, hug more or even really look at my loved ones more, but I’m too tired. Eczema parenting + full-time work.. love, it’s (almost) out of the window.
Tired Mom
Close that window.
Totally understand that it is difficult to love when you’re tired. I feel the same way too. Some days my eyes are only looking at the computer at work or looking at the floor, or the sink or the clothes hangers. But some days I think back of how doing something I know is good and loving will refresh me.
When I was living in Shanghai, I had to travel all the way from city area to the very west end of Shanghai for bible study. Almost every Friday, I felt like skipping bible study, especially while jostling in the cramped train (it’s so cramped that when the driver announced to get ready and move to the door for alighting at the next stop, he really meant it!). But every time at the end of the bible study, I felt refreshed and not tired – my husband felt the same. I kept this in my heart, knowing that if traveling so far, under such crowded (and often stale air) conditions, I could still feel refreshed, week after week for two years. Then, maybe I can love when I’m tired too.
Whoever are your loved ones are the people who God had put on earth for you to love, with the full knowledge that life on earth is no bed of roses. Love and your loved one was never meant to be a burden from the time of Adam and Eve (though that was the start of the ‘blame game’ among couples!). So how can a tired mom love? Especially if you have a child who needs extra care.
6 #SkinishMom Love-When-You-Are-Tired Tips
#1 Don’t blame or beat yourself up on bad days when you snapped or didn’t show TLC to your loved ones
#2 Don’t blame anyone, for anything
#3 If you are constantly too tired, then you should do something about it – ask for help, cut down on work that don’t matter
#4 Smile – Mother Teresa said
“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love,
a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”
#5 Hug – it’s de-stressing, from Dr Mercola’s website
Hugs are one of the most succinct ways to encourage your body to release oxytocin, and the more oxytocin your pituitary gland releases, the better able you are to handle life’s stressors.
Oxytocin decreases the level of stress hormones (primarily cortisol) your body manufactures and lowers your blood pressure response to anxiety-producing events.
Oxytocin has also been found to reduce the cravings of drug and alcohol addiction, as well as for sweets. It even has a positive influence on inflammation and wound healing.
#6 Warm someone’s heart – When I’m tired, I’m bogged down by too many things to do. Usually none of these things satisfy my heart (it satisfied my brain though cos I’d have checked off my to-do list!). When you love, someone else who may be as tired as you has been loved. Knowing that you have done something to warm another heart will warm yours too.
I hoped this post has warmed your heart too, #SkinishMom
“Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.”
Mother Teresa