“Let us not grow weary…”

What makes us weary? I believe it is the desire and “need” to be what society wants us to be, rather than who we were meant to be at our core. I notice that I am never weary when I am living as my authentic self – and this means saying “no” when that decision seems best for me, my family, our well-being. It means creating something, whether a drawing, a repurposed home item, a sentence. It means taking care of myself physically and carving out the time I need – but often feel I don’t have – to exercise, get as much sleep as possible (always a constant battle) and, ideally, eat healthy (but still be able to eat my nightly dish of ice cream – another pleasure that keeps me from growing weary). What makes us weary is the exhaustion of having to wear the masks we feel we must – the one of the perfect mother, the perfect neighbor, the perfect spouse, the ideal coworker. What also makes us weary is the race to keep up with the Joneses – the pull to get more, do more, have more…and then make sure that “more” is bigger, better, faster, etc.  I think a lot of us would breathe a collective sigh of relief if we freed ourselves from these pressures – external for sure, but ultimately internalized. We need to acknowledge the people and responsibilities in our lives that make us weary and look at what we can do to grapple with that. We need to surround ourselves with the people and responsibilities in our lives that help recharge us so that we can face the inevitable weariness with more strength.