The last word in HALT is Tired.

There are many ways we can be tired. We can be physically tired, mentally tired, emotionally tired or just plain sleepy.  The danger comes when we feel overwhelmed by life and can’t function productively anymore. This can put us and others at risk.

Think of tired as being empty, drained or at its very worst unable to feel. What would help you to not have these feelings? Seems to me that if you are empty you need to be filled up.  How do we fill up? The answer may surprise you.

I was told a few years ago that “you can’t give from empty” and it’s something that I truly believe in. Life is a series of give and take, as well as supporting others and receiving support from others. I find that if I ‘give’ of myself then I start to feel better about myself. Yesterday I wrote about a way to bring little bits of happiness to others, which in turn gives bits of happiness to ourselves. This is a way to ‘give’, to fill ourselves up. I know it seems weird that I am saying to give instead of take to get filled up, but in all reality you are taking by giving. It’s when we stop giving that we become empty.

Think of a time that someone was upset and wanted comfort. Did you help comfort them, perhaps even gave them advise? How did that make you feel? Did you feel good about helping them? I know that helping others, no matter what type of mood I am in always brightens my day. It's like what I wrote about yesterday, When I give someone even a little bit of happiness (which they get from my support) it brings me happiness. See I 'gave' of myself which made me feel good that I was able to help, which in turn 'filled' me up.

Heres another example:

I know that when my hubby comes home and I am in a bad mood that I feel more tired than before he came home. But if I great him nicely, no matter how stressful a day I have had, it makes both of us happy and more relaxed. See the pattern?

Hubby comes home from work à I great him with a scowl showing him the bad mood I am in à Makes me feel worse and puts him in a bad mood à still tired/empty

Or
Hubby comes home from work à I great him with a smile and happy greeting or even a hug and kiss à Gives him some happiness and makes me feel good about bringing him a bit of happiness à fills me up and I feel less tired/empty

It’s just like what I wrote about yesterday. Tired and Lonely can be worked on the same way. Isn’t that great? You can kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

Tomorrow I will give you a tool to help you explore some of your feelings.

Sha J