16: To be honest, we are TIRED

It is extremely inconvenient to be tired right now. Relatable? We're talking about that kind of tiredness that isn't neutralised by a sleep-in, where you don't get re-booted from a workout or revived when you just work out you were missing some Vitamin Social Life.    We're talking about the kind of tiredness that won't allow itself to be ignored. The kind of tired where it seems that your body shuts down all non-essential systems to the point that you are able to be still and blank.   Tiredness is not a problem in itself. When paired with being committed to your commitments, however, it does create significant challenges.   On one hand, it's great that you're committed and that you have the discipline to show up regardless of how you feel.   On the other hand, to disregard how you feel is a dangerous line to walk or anything but a short-term emergency.    Being able to recognise the signals that our bodies send to us is critical for long-term success. Our human bodies have needs that must be met to facilitate health and performance. And how we feel is the mechanism by which our body can communicate this to get our attention.    Doctors have, unfortunately, been encouraged to practice emotional suppression making it easier to miss or dismiss the messages. This may appear adaptive in the short term but emotional suppression is, however, a blunt tool by which I mean, we cannot suppress selectively just one feeling but instead, it's all or nothing. When we choose to suppress one emotion, we take the others down with it.    And we lose important information about our life direction and our health in the process.    In this episode, we are talking through our current real-time experience of managing this tiredness without avoidance, overriding, or denial. And we're meeting our limitations and revealing areas for further work here. We are walking the talk from Episode 1 of Am I Doing it Wrong the podcast!   Episode 1 brought forward the question of whether 'balance' was achievable or even the goal for doctors. Instead of balance, we have landed on contrast - allowing alternating times of being over-subscribed and then more free and light.    Join us in this episode as we share our struggles, strategies and successes in dealing with our tiredness in a different way.   And tell us, how are you feeling? What side of the contrast coin are you on right now?

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