Perhaps we are also tired because we have lost our sense of wonder.
Tired, tired, everyone is tired.
It almost sounds cliché. How can we all be so tired?
We are tired partly because everyone is busy, stretched beyond our limits. We are tired because of the perception or idea that "being busy" is equivalent to being "successful." Our culture and society values busyness and task-orientedness.
We are also tired because many of us do not get enough sleep.
Perhaps we are also tired because we have lost our sense of wonder. The extraordinary sights of our world, the beauty of nature, the delight in even the simple and ordinary is buried underneath thrill-seeking adventures and a frenetic pace. We are far too easily bored with what used to fascinate us: the stars, trees, music, art, a good book. Our lives today are lived facing screens.
We have lost our sense of wonder. We no longer pay attention. We're rushing around. The world is blasé.
But there is an antidote: if we live in gratitude, amazement, and wonder at the marvelous mysteries and miracles around us, we have no time to be bored.
We will feel less "tired."
This is not to say that our daily challenges are not taxing on us, physically and emotionally. They are. Life is abundantly filled with difficulties that stretch us to the very edge.
I came across this quote recently: "Attention is the beginning of devotion.” ~Mary Oliver
Are we paying attention? Are we finding wonder in the world around us?
No "wonder" we are tired. We are more than physically and emotionally tired; we are soul-tired.
The world is bigger than ourselves. If we can't find the wonder in the world of an ant, in the glorious skies above, in the flowers that shine from the ground, in knowing Jesus, in God's Word, and fail to notice immeasurable miracles that surround us, we have some soul-work to do. In returning to wonder, we will find that our weariness is lifted, and we find a shining edge of hope.
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