Today, I am tired. The past two weeks have been at pitch-fever pace sprinting to get everything accomplished before we leave on a trip to Texas. It is my husband’s twenty-year high school reunion and we are taking it as an opportunity to go back and visit with loved ones. I am terribly excited about the chance to see everyone again (and meet all these people Eric has mentioned over the years), but the time away requires that I do even more work ahead of time. Speaking notes to be given to my substitute teacher, coaching plans to draft for clients, phone calls which have to be done before we leave, and articles to write for you, my dear readers!

And so, while my exhaustion is the result of very good and exciting things in my life, it is still nevertheless exhaustion.

I meet many, many people who live perpetually in this state. As a culture, we seem to have slipped into an acceptance that crazy is the way of life. We jet around town getting the kids where they need to go. We commute back and forth to work. We rush from one activity to another. We keep cell phones glued to our bodies so we don’t miss out on calls, emails, texts, and the score of the Yankees’ game (yes, baby, that one’s for you!). We spend hours in our lives doing instead of being.

But it is in the silent times that we rejuvenate. We can reflect. We can get in touch with the part deep inside of us which guides and directs us. Jack Canfield, author of The Success Principles calls this “inquiring within”. Whether you are from a faith-based background and believe in a God who directs you or whether you believe in the concept that inside of all of us we intuitively know the right answers, there is power in getting quiet enough to listen.

It is when we slow down enough to be still, to be quiet, to just be, then the understanding of our life’s path once again becomes focused. The blur that is created though rushing through our days begins to dissipate and instead we see sharp, clear images. We remember our true desires and longings. We have a clear vision for the future. We remember who we are.

One of the most profound exercises that I have been doing over the past several months is the concept of “morning pages.” Following the guidelines laid down by Julia Cameron in The Artist Way, I wake up every morning half an hour earlier than necessary and I write three pages of long-hand script. My morning pages are filled with whatever stream of consciousness that spills forth. No one reads my morning pages except for me, so I have the freedom to say anything and everything that I want. Sometimes, I muse about conversations I had the previous day. Sometimes, I draft ideas for my next talk, article or coaching appointment. Sometimes I vent about frustrations in my life. And sometimes, I hear that quiet voice deep within me beckoning me to push beyond my comfort zones to follow my true calling in life.

I must admit, the past week my morning pages have been more perfunctory than anything else. I have dutifully filled them out, but I have not embraced the process or even particularly learned from it. And that is probably why I am so exhausted today. Because, in contrast to constructive work that emanates from a sense of self, I have fallen into busyness which emanates from duty. And that is not sustainable in the long run.

So, I am going to refocus for my morning pages tomorrow. And in the meantime I am going to take a nap.

But what about you?  What do you do to ward off exhaustion in your life?