I used to hate
it when older folks would say, “back in my day...” And yet, I seem to have,
well, if not those exact words falling from my lips on a regular basis, at least
the sentiment they engender surrounding me a lot.
My daughter is
the youngest of my kids, thirty-six at her last birthday. She herself has one
son, and he and his fiancé and their two babies live with her. She works in the
community as a PSW—personal support worker. I believe in the U. S. the same
position is called Nurse’s Aid.
Now, I will
grant that some of her work days are stretched out—once in a while she may start
as early as 5:30 and not finish until 8 at night. But on those days, most
usually, she has three or four hours free in the middle of the day, and those
hours are generally spent napping.
And yet, all I
hear from her is how tired she is. And she says that nearly every single
day.
My second
daughter is also tired all the time. Of course she’s older than her sister by a
whole year.
My question is,
whatever happened to stamina?
When I was 36,
I was a mom with two kids at home, aged 13 and 12 (my oldest had already left
the nest). I worked outside the home at a full time job, and while the kids
weren’t small, they were still work. Whether it was dealing with those kids and
homework and trying to get them to do their chores, or the cooking, the laundry,
and house cleaning, it was pretty much all on me. And yeah, I had days when I
would have loved some extra sleep, but I didn’t feel even half as tired as the
generation behind me seems to feel.
My beloved said
it’s the same way where he works. The young bucks, as he calls them, come
dragging into work some mornings, groaning with the horror of it all. They are
all so tired all the time—and none of them feel the least bit shy about telling
you how tired they are, all the time.
Now, either
everyone in this current generation of 20 to 40 year olds is suffering from a
severe lack of iron, or they’re just not making people the way they used
to.
Then again,
there might be one other factor at play: their misuse of subconscious minds
could be at fault.
One rule for
self-conduct I’m most fond of is the one that says you should never trash talk
yourself in any way. And the reason you shouldn’t has to do with your
subconscious mind. I’ve heard it said and believe it to be true that your
subconscious doesn’t differentiate between the truth and a lie, it just works at
making your words reality. So if you say you’re a loser, your subconscious mind
works at making you one. If you say you’re a winner, guess what? Same thing, it
works at making you one.
I know this is
true, because there were times in the past when I focused on the discomfort I
was in every day. Anyone who has it knows arthritis is a very harsh task master.
But I have learned not to talk about the pain, and for the most part, not even
to think about it. Because when I don’t, then it’s better.
So I wonder if
it could be that these young people focus so much on how tired they are, that
all they feel is even more tired. I asked my beloved if he thought it could be
so, and he agreed it was not only possible, but probable.
I also know
what else he thinks, and it can be summed up like this: You’re tired? So what?
We’re all tired. Get on with it. Life’s hard? Yeah, funny how that works. Get on
with it.
A man of simple
beliefs is my husband. And we tend to agree on most things—and nothing more than
this.
Everything in
life—especially how you feel—is a decision.
Love,
Morgan
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