The Privilege of Tired

It's time to look at being tired through the lens of gratitude.

Like most people, I really looked forward to taking a few days off during the Thanksgiving holiday to recharge. For me, those four days represent the filling of a chaos sandwich that tends to be November and December – and one I fully took advantage of. I spent time with family, watched a lot of football, took in a few movies, and even read a little.

However, as I was taking a breather from work, there was something I heard a few weeks ago that I simply can't get out of my head:

"What a privilege it is to be tired from the work you once begged the universe for."

I don't know where that quote originated, but it's been hanging on me like a weighted blanket; the good kind, not the suffocating kind. It made me pause long enough to realize something embarrassingly obvious if I simply slowed down once in a while:

• I'm tired because I asked for this.

• I'm overwhelmed because I wanted this.

• I'm challenged because I chose this.

Many of us, including me, forget that the projects and work exhausting us today are exactly what we once fantasized about. We used to daydream about stacked calendars, challenging projects, and solving client problems because we wanted to build something meaningful. And now, because we built a life on purpose, we are living inside the very thing we asked for, even if we tend to forget that the fatigue that comes with growth isn't a punishment; it's proof we dared to try.

The fact is that growth feels like chaos, opportunity feels like pressure, and success feels like "how the hell am I going to manage all of this?" Every professional I know hits that moment where they look at their calendar, their inbox, their travel, and their meetings and think, "this is….a lot."

However, if you pause for a moment, you'll realize that it's only "a lot" because you built something worth carrying. The meetings, the deadlines, the content, the travel, the strategy, the client – none of it showed up by happenstance. On the contrary, it's a direct result of the courage you had to start something in the first place. In other words, the weight feels heavy only because you produce work that matters.

None of this is about romanticizing exhausting or pretending burnout doesn't exist. You're not only allowed to rest, but you're also supposed to. My point is that when you reframe the tiredness through the lens of gratitude, it becomes something different:

• That last-minute project is proof someone trusts you.

• That overwhelming growth is proof your work matters.

• That week that never seems to end is proof you've outgrown who you used to be.

• That seemingly insurmountable challenge is proof you're walking a path you chose, not one chosen for you.

Perhaps that's the point. At this stage of my life, I don't believe the goal is to avoid the weight of work; it's to recognize its value. As we race towards the end of another year and you get a little tired, take a breath and remember:

• You're tired because you're growing.

• You're overwhelmed because you're evolving.

• You're stressed because you said yes to something that mattered enough to doggedly pursue.

That, in every single way that counts, is a privilege.