It’s a storm out there

Weariness, fatigue, exhaustion. It goes by several names. It does. That state of cumulative, pernicious tiredness. Stacked over time it clouds, it weakens, and eventual it can break.

This isn't coming out of the blue. This is observational. Few things hasten the inevitable stacking that becomes fatigue greater than stress. These days there is more than enough to go around. The worst part is I don't think that its over. That's not pessimism, it's pragmatism speaking.

The real world health risks and damages of the current virus is impossible to overlook. For some o us we can't even pass it to the back of our mind. No matter who we are, quarantines, economic welfare, and the direct consequences never leave us.

That leads me to the next point. We may all be in the same storm but we are not in the same boat. It's not a unique view of the situation by any means. But it's one that won't leave this brain of mine. It's the truthfulness of it all that keeps on my mind.

For some of us the only major ramifications we face is the frustration of fighting over space and Wi-Fi in a full house. For others it's the economic ramifications of not working. Yet still for others it's the constant fear of continuing to work. Or they are tired and worried about PPE while they keep treating patients. I don't think any of us have it easy right now.

Unless we have an abnormal amount of stability we can't just drop an anchor. We can't sit still. If we do that or just try it we'd get crushed. No we have to at least jog for position to avoid a crushing wave. Some of us are just bailing water to keep from sinking. Others are paddling, pulling as hard as they can to keep the shore in sight. In short, the great majority of us are just working to stay afloat.

I know for my family I have a kindergartner who misses friends, misses cousins. Is struggling and striving with studies simultaneously. I feel for her. I have a wife managing a home, studies for the kids, and her own schooling somehow. Getting it all done while I try to do an online class and keep working nights at the VA hospital. I'm thankful for a job yet stressed at the same time. Never anticipating I'd be sick for a portion of this mess. But we're all healthy and striving. But it's hard. 

That's why we're all getting fatigued. We're all frayed on the edges. Tempers are flaring. I would argue that decision making skills are getting poorer. That's led to the worrisome thing. Conflict. When we should recognize we're still facing a mostly unknown powerful force of nature. We need each other, we don't need to be turning on each other. We need to be pulling together. We did great as the majority of people at the start. Let's get back to that. Let's pull together.

We're all tired. We're all stressed. We are all struggling. If we recognized that, maybe we could find the empathy to get through this. Find the way to support each other, regardless of what boat they found themselves in when the storm hit.