By Nancy Virden (c)2025

Chronic fatigue is as different from tired as pneumonia is from a cold. Fatigue is something you are; tired is something you feel.

Tiredness can be overcome by sheer will, a quick shower, a night’s sleep, or slowing down. If you say, “I’m tired,” people can relate.

Fatigue is not overcome. It is a medical condition. Your will is defeated by an empty energy tank; sometimes, you can feel it physically draining. There is no energy to take a shower. You can sleep for 15 hours straight and feel no different. You need a rest between waking and getting up.

Fatigue is emotionally draining because you cannot accomplish what you want. Best intentions must be put off or not done. If you tell people, I’m fatigued,” they will not understand. Often, people who care will still respond that you need to push through or exercise more. Nonetheless, you can’t.

False guilt runs closely beside disappointment. You are afraid everyone thinks you are lazy. The hardest mental challenge is accepting a new normal and learning to ignore what others think.

What good can come of fatigue? Without the zoom zoom, where are the wins? Are you destined to only an occasional woot woot? Thinking patterns can change, and they must.

Since I have developed chronic fatigue due to Sjogren’s, my life has greatly slowed. Rarely do I go anywhere, and work is a hit-or-miss endeavor. The best energy days last about six hours.

Here are some ways I have found joy in fatigue:

1. Every accomplishment (laundry, writing, making calls, sewing, paying bills, etc.) is a bit of a thrill. Chances are, these things have been procrastinated. Finishing something feels good.
2. I still control my plans. All appointments are made for 3-8 pm. Listening to my pastors’ sermons online and asking for a ride to a women’s prayer group keep me in touch with my church. Leading a support group and teaching a class online provide fellowship and purpose.
3. I try to join my housemates when they are available. This creates closer bonds, and I can sit if needed while we talk.
4. Online shopping, bill pay, and grocery delivery keep life less physically difficult and allow for complete independence.
5. Using afternoon hours, I have managed to homeschool my housemate’s grandson through preschool. He can read short words, do simple math, and tell time (nearly), among other assundry things. He is graduating to Kindergarten this week.
6. My intention to travel with a ministry partner to share the gospel is dependent on faith that the Lord will help me to function. If I must, I can rest in the car during fatigued hours.

Life does not have to stop due to chronic fatigue. It gets smaller, is challenging financially, and disappointing. However, fatigue does not own the day even if it feels like it.

Stay in touch with people, and turn to God who loves you.

-COMMENTS WELCOME

Today’s Helpful Word

Philippians 4:13

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

If you are feeling suicidal or concerned about someone who is, in the U.S., call 988, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. For a list of international suicide hotlines, go here.

If you are suicidal with a plan, immediately call 911 in the U.S. or go to your nearest emergency room; in the EU, call 112. (For other international emergency numbers, go here.) Hope and help are yours!

Always the Fight Ministries (ATFM) has been displaying compassion for those fighting mental illness, addiction, or abuse since 2012. Nancy is the founder and voice of ATFM and openly shares her emotional resurrection from despair. 

NOTE: Nancy is not a doctor or a mental health professional and speaks only from personal experience and observations. This website is not intended to substitute for professional mental or behavioral health care.

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