Soul-fatigue. It exists. We cannot pour from an empty cup.
It’s not easy to step back from soul-fatigue. Many are hungry or cold or thirst for clean water. Many are scared or homeless or racist or uneducated or abused. People we love are hurting or unwell or in pain or grieving
or unemployed or waiting as a loved one faces death. Or they are conscious of time slipping by as their own death approaches.
The cumulative effect can drag us down or drain our energy or make us numb or make us accident-prone or we can become ill ourselves. Soul-fatigue.
How do we rise from such fatigue? We take care of ourselves. We love ourselves enough to say no and let go. We remind ourselves that we are human *beings* not human *doings.* We make time to fill our own cup.
The compassion we show to others, we show to ourselves. We inspire our heart and make time to enjoy the arts listen to, look at and appreciate the simple things of life around us. We make time to be with friends – to laugh and play and be carefree. And we recognize and express gratitude for the blessings often taken for granted
We make time to simply ‘be’ because if we do not we could become unable to care for anyone else Anyone. Each day we must take a sip from the cup of kindness for – and – to ourselves.
May we heed the wisdom of the ages expressed in song and poetry and art and prose and Scripture and drama and take care of ourselves in some way, every day to diminish, or better yet, eliminate soul-fatigue.
© June Maffin
www.soulistry.com/blog
www.facebook.com/groups/soulistry
June, you are so much more than words can describe.
Bless your energy, entrepreneurship, evocative poetry
love of humanity, care for this world –
creating always creating. Shalom
Thank you for this post. I can’t even put into words what this means to me but I will try to explain. It validates the issue of self preservation for the purpose of being able to give of oneself to others. This is the difference between soul-fatigue and selfishness for the same of putting one’s needs above others. I think it is doubly important for introverts to be aware of soul-fatigue. Just being around other people can be draining. Add to that, the stress of being a round-the-clock care giver and your soul is depleted twice as fast.
It’s difficult to explain this to someone who has never felt this depletion, this fatigue. All they see is someone who is selfishly concerned with their own needs. They don’t understand the concept that “you can’t pour from an empty cup.”