painting of a tree

Watch me paint “Sheltering Tree” in 2 minutes (time lapse)

A sheltering tree is a place we can go when we need rest. When we are weary, a literal tree is a good source for peace; visiting a real place in nature is restorative. But, what I’m talking about here is a metaphorical sheltering tree, a spiritual place we can visit even when we are in the middle of a busy day indoors.

Good sleep, nutrition, exercise, sunlight, healthy relationships, reading, optimism, and faith are just some of the many helpful ways to maintain a balance in energy levels to avoid becoming weary. Yet, we can’t always prevent spiritual exhaustion and physical fatigue. At these times, we must rely on our mind to provide shelter to our body and spirit.

Do you let your thoughts tumble into your brain at random, based solely on the circumstance of the moment? On an average day, this may be a habit that doesn’t affect you much. But when you are weary, your thoughts may quickly induce frustration, disappointment, melancholy, and even lead to depression and despondency. When we are in a weakened physical and spiritual state, our minds can conjure up negative thoughts that spiral downward.

Take control over your mind by rejecting random thoughts. Think with intention. Direct the flow of thoughts that fill your mind by choosing what to focus on. Imagine your mind as a television screen. Don’t tune in to whatever happens to be on, and don’t flip through the channels. Choose your show and go directly to it, allowing nothing else to display in your mind. Focus on “sheltering” thoughts, patterns of thinking that restore your spirit and strengthen your health.

Sheltering Thoughts

“And this too shall pass” (this day will end)

“This won’t matter 5 years from now” (it won’t feel bad forever)

“When I get better sleep tonight, I’ll feel better”

“I can do all things through God who strengthens me”

“People love me and would be sad to see that I’m so weary”

“*I* love me and I will fight against weariness”

“God loves me and wants to give me rest”

“Time heals all wounds” (let the process happen naturally)

“Some of what makes me weary is not real”

The last one is significant. “Some of what makes me weary is NOT REAL.” When we instruct our mind to analyze the situation, we may realize that our weariness comes from being overwhelmed by issues that are exploited, manipulated, manufactured, propagandized, or steered to produce exactly this result: weariness. When we are weary, we may give up and submit to the thoughts and actions that others want us to have.

Attempting to control others by wearing them down is an abusive relationship, whether our abuser is a person we know, or a vast coordinated agenda by people who’ve never met us (world government/media/edu/establishment/etc. entities). Whether our oppressors know us personally or not, people who control others don’t care about us as individuals. They care about our compliance. This is an unhealthy relationship that we must instruct our mind to reject.

Fight against weariness that comes from outside sources who wish to control you. However, if you have analyzed your situation and you’ve determined that source of your weariness is not imposed upon you by an “enemy”, but is instead an issue of authentic circumstance, your response may be different. Choosing to fight against weariness in this case may do more harm than good.

If you’re weary because you are grieving a loss, it’s healthy to let yourself feel the fatigue, the heaviness, and the sad weight upon your body and spirit. Grief can be from the death of someone we love, or may be a similar type of loss that we may not be completely cognizant of. When life changes, either yours or theirs, you may miss someone more deeply than you expected due to estrangement, a life change such as being busy with a new job or a new baby, moving far away, distanced by poor health, or when adult children leave the nest. Change can hit us hard, and that process is completely natural.

Be mindful of any other types of changes. Some change may not directly involve relationships with people, but may instead be about how you spend your days. Have you changed the type of work you do? We don’t necessarily have to change jobs or careers to feel the impact of a change in how we work or how we spend our time. If our schedule has changed, we may initially experience an artificial boost of energy as we adjust to the new ways. When we settle in, we may “crash”, and then feel weary. This is normal.

Some types of weariness are completely natural and are a normal process of adjusting to life’s changes. It does not mean that we are doing the wrong thing, that something bad has happened to us, or that we have regrets. It could mean that, so it’s important to ponder our situation. But our weariness could easily be part of the process toward a healthy adjustment to change, and all we need is time.

Giving ourselves time means that we are patient and don’t rush the process when our feelings become uncomfortable. It’s common advice to warn each other not to respond in a knee-jerk way when we are upset. Wait, sleep on it. See how we feel in the morning. This is wise advice for avoiding acting on rash decisions that we later regret. But it’s also sound advice for our thoughts, not just our actions.

Recognize when your thoughts don’t flow in a logical, rational, calm manner that is loving and kind to yourself. Notice when your thoughts are jumping and overlapping in a knee-jerk way that you may later regret. Loose, unproductive, illogical thoughts can lead to a downward spiral of unhealthy attitudes that prolong a “bad day” into something more permanent.

When you sense that your mind is running amuck in an unproductive, unhealthy, destructive manner, reign yourself in with the image of my tree painting from the video at the top of this blog post. Let your mind rest in the peaceful shade of the Sheltering Tree. When we are mindful, we restore our bodies and spirits. Healing begins with our thoughts.

While the world condemns us, we must love ourselves and each other. We cannot love our neighbors “as ourselves” if we do not love ourselves. It is our responsibility then to love ourselves and pull ourselves back up out of the pit when we are weary. Humanity needs each and every one of us to be strong. If you are weary, go to the sheltering tree and stay awhile. Give yourself time. But not too much time… we need you.