What to Do If Living in Interesting Times is Exhausting

Did you ever that old saying ‘May You Live in Interesting Times’?
Well, wow, I think we’ve been living in interesting times.

6 years of Permacrisis (pandemic, Brexit, War in the Ukraine, the cost of living crisis). And most recently a change in UK Prime Minister and the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

Worry, stress, change, sorrow… the thing about interesting times is that they can be emotionally exhausting.


We can plough on, one foot in front of the other, getting through the day to day life because we have to - we have to pay the bills, we have to put food on the table and so on but at what personal cost?

I’m noticing a lot more mention of people feeling worn out, close to burn out, just exhausted.

So what to do if this is you?


First up, just stop and notice how you are doing. Try at take a step off the hamster wheel.

Just pause and process what is going on inside you.

We often get so wrapped up in our thoughts we forget we are not just a head, we have a body and a spirit too.

So ask yourself:

How is my mind?

How is my body?

How is my spirit?

You may end up with three very different answers.

Then ask yourself:

What does my mind need?

What does my body need?

What does my spirit need?

If you are emotionally exhausted and somewhat burned out, you are likely to need to rest.

I know that resting for most driven over-achievers is very difficult. From my own perspective, resting and relaxing has often felt like an achievement in itself. But when exhausted, we need to rest.

This summer, I really needed to rest. And at first it was hard because I was out of practice!

But my favourite things were going on a walk with the dogs and just observing them play; or sitting under trees on a breezy day listening to the sound of the wind through the leaves; or listening to a good mystery on Audible and watching lots of fun stuff like ‘Only Murders in the Building’. Simple stuff but so needed.

So please, my friends, look after yourselves in these ‘interesting times’. Get what you need to thrive.

Remember, Be Fearlessly YOU and that includes resting fearlessly when you need to.

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