I find myself often wishing for a battery indicator – like the ones on a phone – I can look at for the people around me. Especially for myself.
First, the context. I was tired on two separate occasions recently.
One of these days was with family and I was noticeably withdrawn. An extra hour of sleep would have transformed that morning.
I was even asked – “Everything okay? Tired?” And I said “yes – all okay.” Some combination of ego and lack of self awareness meant that I didn’t admit to my tiredness.
The other day was at work. I was wiped out and every minor disagreement hit me a lot harder. I saw a couple of issues and felt my heart sink. And I ended a perfectly normal day feeling beat down.
In both cases, if there was a simple battery indicator I could have looked at, I would have seen the indicator point to the fact that I’d gone into battery saver mode. I needed a recharge to reset – that recharge is usually just sleep. In rare cases, it comes down to food or other factors.
Low battery states impact everything – our ability to be resilient, to be optimistic, and to keep perspective.
The more awareness we have of them, the better.
Perhaps I should just begin by imagining a battery indicator and keep checking in on the charge level.
