Tired

 

 

‘I'm so tired

My mind is on the blink…

…I’m so tired,

I don’t know what to do…

…I’m so tired,

I’m feeling so upset’

 

The Beatles ‘I’m so tired’

 

 
The other day I was looking back at some of my blog posts from previous years. When compared to this year’s Advent offerings they seemed quite articulate and sometimes almost profound (and at least a wee bit insightful).
 
This year I just have not had the clarity of thought, the energy, or the ideas.
 
I am just a bit washed out and rather tired.
 
Now, I do tend to get quite tired quite a lot. Or, rather, I am prone to periods of health related fatigue. That is not quite the same as tiredness, but it is not easy to properly explain. But there is (as always) some of that.
 
But this is different.
 
This is a tiredness which I suspect is felt by many at the moment.
 
It is the mental tiredness that comes from anxiety about the virus and its variants, the uncertainty about plans, the constant changing and adjusting, the concern about family and loved ones, the absence of much social interaction, the excess of Zoom meetings, and so much more besides.
 
So, dear reader, my apologies for this year’s Advent posts and the absence of any profundity!
 
This tiredness which so many are experiencing at the moment may be affecting my creativity, but for many others it is more severely impacting upon their mental health, and that is more worrying. In these last few days the First Minister has warned of an impending ‘tsunami’ of the omicron variant and the Prime Minister has spoken of a ‘tidal wave’. At the time I thought that these descriptions were a wee bit unhelpful and possibly alarmist. I would rather be presented with the facts than with hyperbole! But now, just a few days on, I wonder if they were correct after all, and perhaps they were not really being alarmist.
 
But the tsunami that I really fear is that of the mental health implications for so many in our society.
 
Meanwhile, in my own less severe weariness and anxiety I am finding comfort and strength and hope in the promise of Jesus – the so-called ‘words of comfort’ ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.’ (Matthew 11: 28).