How I’m Taking Back my Health from a Season of Exhaustion

If I asked you how you were honestly doing right now, what would you say? If you exhaled loudly and said “exhausted,” you are not alone. In fact, when I talk with pastors and leaders around the U.S. right now, one recurring theme is: exhaustion.

From having to pivot instantly in March when most everything and everyone moved to being solely in their homes to moving everything online (and learning out how to do that) to figuring out how to get everything done while people are also now home with their kids to the weight of the responsibility of keeping people healthy while continuing to pay the bills, exhausted is completely expected right now.

Let’s be honest, in times of great change and uncertainty, most of us choose the path of least resistance. Which often means quick easy meals, burning the candle at both ends, absolute minimal physical activity, throwing on the same clothes as yesterday and just doing what we can to survive and make sure those around us are surviving too. And there are very good reasons for doing these things.

Now, it feels more like we can all come up for a collective breath of air, but not because things are “back to normal,” rather because we know that ambiguity and uncertainty and change are our new normal. And just being able to name that, and know that, allows us to breathe a little easier than, say, 2 months ago.

So now we’re at a place where it’s necessary to take stock of our own health, and the health of our being, because when we’re not healthy, everyone and everything else suffers.

There was a moment when it was necessary for all of us to be on high alert and instantly responsive when things began to pivot drastically. That moment has now passed, and while there are still changes that will need to be made moving forward, it’s time to pause for the sake of our health.

It’s time to take a deep breath, step back, and check in. And in this moment to determine what we need to do to take care of ourselves.

If you’re anything like me, I realized that while I had been keeping up with my workouts through all of this, that I have been doing the bare minimum.  I knew I needed to keep moving, but honestly had little energy to do anything more than that. Have you been feeling the same way?

I don’t know about you, but I can sense that my energy is starting to come back and I get back to prioritizing my healthy routines again and working out and pushing myself again. I hope you can too, whatever that looks like for you!

And then there’s the fridge and pantry. I mean, for a minute, we were literally buying up all the non-perishable food items, and toilet paper, (can somebody say, “TOILET PAPER!”) and potatoes. Not gonna lie, the potatoes got me… Who bought ALL the potatoes?! We eat potatoes all the time, so never in a million years did I think my husband would come home from Trader Joes one day telling me they were sold out of potatoes!

Now that the grocery stores are getting restocked and we’re not buying food for a month at a time, we’re getting back to planning ahead for our meals and getting creative again with what we’re eating. So, what does your fridge look like? What are your meals looking like now? Are you back to being able to plan ahead and put your health, and your family’s health, as a priority again? If you haven’t started to, here’s your friendly reminder!

And most importantly, how are our souls? I’ll admit that I have been talking with people about a lot of important things lately but that I haven’t spent any time talking with God about them. I don’t know about you, but for a minute there it honestly didn’t feel like I had any time to, the world as we knew it was changing so fast and I found it really hard to keep up, let alone create some space for solitude with God.

Maybe you too can relate with what Ruth Haley Barton said in her book Strengthening the Soul of your Leadership about an intense season of ministry in her life, “my leadership, which usually flows from what is going on in my own soul, was at that moment disconnected from the reality of God in my own life.”

So, how about you? When was the last time you found some solitude to be with God and let yourself be authentic and honest and silent all at the same time? Can I encourage you this week to find at least 10 minutes to find some solitude, silence, and space to be alone with God? To let yourself be brutally honest with God in that space, and to allow some time for God to speak to you too.

Now that we know ambiguity, uncertainty, and change are our new normal, it’s time to reestablish those daily and weekly habits that empower us to bring our best selves to our leadership, families, and everyone else around us!