Joy Of Fatigue

“Wake up with determination, go to bed with satisfaction.”

Yesterday, after finishing an endless series of meetings and a bunch of challenging tasks, I finally came home at midnight. Feeling exhausted, I made a cup of coffee, played some soft jazz and threw myself on the couch.

I had completed all my due tasks, met some irate clients and had taken a few important decisions which were pending for a long time. Looking back at the day, I compiled the list of tasks done, in my mind. I realized that I had worked even more than that was planned.

My body was aching. I was feeling tired but somehow, deep down, I enjoyed, I relished, I desired that weariness. But, why? How can pain be desirable? Who loves a hurting body? The thought process continued.

As I relaxed, a notion struck my mind, ‘How ironic this tiredness is!’ It fatigues your body and soothes your soul. Remember the moment when after a tough day and a lot of hard work, you come home with aching back and a paining neck. You finally lie on your bed under your cozy blanket. You sleep like a child. I find no feeling as incredible as that satisfaction.

Satisfaction! The satisfaction of achieving the goals, giving your best, working hard, pushing yourself above your limits, being useful, the satisfaction of being able to work! I reckon this sense of establishment makes the pain of hustle worth enduring.

I wonder those who choose comfort over effort, will they ever get to experience the beauty of such warmth? Sleeping after a rough day is always more pleasurable than sleeping for a couple of hours extra. I wonder, a person who, earlier, used to work hard but is unfortunately not able to work now, for whatsoever reasons; how deeply he must be craving that feeling of working till his body gets squashed!

The feeling of being able to make a difference, of being counted, of doing something that I thought I can’t, makes me richer. If you are a regular gym-going person who would know that feeling, the high that you sense after a tough workout. The harder you workout, the greater is the feeling of accomplishment. We can either feel sore or feel sorry, the ball is always in our court!  

Ultimately,

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”

– Lance Armstrong