WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.560 --> 00:00:05.080 Welcome to Spark Faith with me doctor Chris Sargent. This 2 00:00:05.160 --> 00:00:09.199 show is about renewed health, rooted in truth and restored 3 00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:12.880 by grace. What does finding health look like for you? 4 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:16.079 Do you have a vision for your future self and 5 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:19.640 a way to get there. I'm doctor Chris and after 6 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:23.559 thirty three years in functional medicine and a lifelong journey 7 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:28.160 through brain health, weight loss, hormones, mindset, and faith, I 8 00:00:28.359 --> 00:00:33.439 know that real transformation doesn't come from willpower or white 9 00:00:33.479 --> 00:00:39.640 knuckling your way to wellness. It comes from gratitude, honoring 10 00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:43.479 your body as the temple that God created. This show 11 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:48.799 is about body stewardship, not shade. It's about rewiring your mindset, 12 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:54.960 your metabolism, and your spirit define lasting health without the grind. 13 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:59.479 I'll help you cut through the noise, see opportunities instead 14 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:04.760 of opals, and finally live a healthy, purposeful life you 15 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:11.120 were created for. Let's spark faith and transformation together. Spark 16 00:01:11.159 --> 00:01:21.799 Faith starts now. Hey, hey everyone, welcome back to the 17 00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:25.280 Spark Faith Show. I am doctor Chris Sargent, and today 18 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:28.519 we are going to talk about Nobody told you this 19 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:34.000 about fatigue. It is the number one thing that people 20 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:37.280 usually come to me for So there's a lot more 21 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:41.560 to fatigue than what many of you might think. Right, 22 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:43.760 You're like, well, I just don't sleep well. So there 23 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:48.920 it is. Well, that may be, but it often is 24 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:53.719 really just the result of multiple demands competing for your 25 00:01:53.719 --> 00:01:58.079 body's resources. And well, last week we talked about regulation 26 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:04.200 and regulating our resources and regulating downtime right so that 27 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:09.159 we can recover. And again, this is gonna be another 28 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:14.000 one of those harder episodes because it it's going to 29 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:16.080 force you. I just I said, you know in the 30 00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:19.159 last episode, like I don't do superficial very well. So 31 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:22.199 we're going to dive a little deeper because you're going 32 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:24.120 to have to look at some of the harder things 33 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:26.319 in your life that you may or may not really 34 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:30.039 want to look at in order to understand why you're 35 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:33.360 not recovering well, or why you are recovering well, or 36 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:37.479 have you even thought about recovery at all? Right, So, 37 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:43.039 what if you're not just low on energy? Right? What 38 00:02:43.159 --> 00:02:46.439 if your problem or what you think might be a problem, 39 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:51.840 isn't that you don't have enough energy? Right? Like, oh wait, wait, 40 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:55.360 what do you mean? Well, what if it is the 41 00:02:55.439 --> 00:02:58.800 fact that you're spending your energy in places that you 42 00:02:58.919 --> 00:03:02.240 don't know about, or that you don't really realize that 43 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:07.199 you're spending your body energy in. So here's the thing 44 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:12.800 a lot of women assume. And this may be you, right, 45 00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:17.240 this may be you. What if you think that fatigue 46 00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:23.080 is you have low hormones or a bad thyroid. My 47 00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:26.800 thyroid's just terrible. My metabolism is terrible. And we talked 48 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:31.280 about metabolism a couple of weeks ago. Right, what if 49 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:34.240 it's coarsely? What a fatigue just means it's poor sleep? 50 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:43.840 Or my favorite slash not favorite is oh I'm just 51 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:51.280 getting older. That one just bends my whole body the 52 00:03:51.319 --> 00:03:57.840 wrong direction. Because sometimes those things are true. Right, we 53 00:03:57.879 --> 00:04:02.360 can do labs, We can figure that out. However, right, 54 00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:07.639 many of y'all are exhausted. While your labs look normal, 55 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:15.240 which is standard in traditional medicine, not in functional medicine. 56 00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:19.720 But why do they look normal? And you know you're fatigued? 57 00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:26.240 Because even if I find most things normal, I usually 58 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:29.120 find that there's some things that are off right. There's 59 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:33.639 usually some sort of deficiency. There's usually something else going 60 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:36.439 on in your body that you may not even realize 61 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:39.319 is happening. You may not even really have any symptoms, 62 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:42.920 or the symptoms that you have, you haven't quite connected 63 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:48.000 to what's happening actually in your body, right, because fatigue 64 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:52.040 isn't just physical. So I want to I want to 65 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:55.199 introduce an idea that might change the way you think 66 00:04:55.240 --> 00:05:00.839 about energy, because energy isn't something that we just produce, right. 67 00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:04.279 We do write, our little mitochondria, our little powerhouses of 68 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:08.279 the cell are in there doing their thing, just getting 69 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:10.759 at it, right, But what if you think about energy 70 00:05:10.759 --> 00:05:14.680 as something that you spend. So we produce it, but 71 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:19.920 we also spend it somewhere, and it's not unlimited. Right. 72 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:25.560 And here's the thing. A lot of us are over spending, right, 73 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:28.120 and I don't just mean Amazon throwing up at your 74 00:05:28.279 --> 00:05:35.040 door every day. That's my house right now as I'm 75 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:40.360 so particularly through getting through getting through the wedding, which 76 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:45.879 is great, But a lot of us are spending it 77 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:48.480 all day long without realizing it. And we're spending it 78 00:05:48.519 --> 00:05:50.439 in places we didn't even realize we were spending it. 79 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:53.160 Maybe our kids are spending Amazon and you didn't realize it. Yeah, 80 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:55.800 that's the thing. We may not even know what's happening. 81 00:05:56.680 --> 00:06:00.759 So dig is not just one thing right, it's not 82 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:03.360 just a lack of energy. But fatigue can come from 83 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:10.639 a lot of different places. And that's right. Physical We 84 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:14.879 talked a little bit about this before, right, that poor sleep. 85 00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:18.839 Maybe you have some kind of gut issue that's kind 86 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:21.680 of running in the background, and maybe you don't really 87 00:06:21.720 --> 00:06:25.199 have any symptoms, but there's something there and you don't 88 00:06:25.240 --> 00:06:28.519 even realize it. Maybe there's some inflammation that you're not 89 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:32.279 aware of. Because inflammation doesn't just show up as joint pain. 90 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:35.279 We talked about that a few visits ago or a 91 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:40.319 few episodes ago too, Right, Inflammation is not just joint 92 00:06:40.360 --> 00:06:46.519 pain and headaches. It's a whole host of symptoms and 93 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:48.959 stuff that you don't even know is going on behind 94 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:52.720 the scenes, Like we talked about inter reception. Right, it's 95 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:56.000 your body sensing and signaling, and it's stuff that's running 96 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:59.519 in the background that you are not even conscious of. 97 00:07:00.160 --> 00:07:03.920 So inflammation and then recovery demands like we talked about 98 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:07.399 last week, Right, that's all of those, All of that 99 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:12.839 recovery deficit is can create fatigue. What about mental fatigue? 100 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:16.959 We've talked about this a little bit under the regulation piece, right, 101 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:21.000 decision making, But what about problem solving? Right, if you're 102 00:07:21.079 --> 00:07:25.439 constantly being having to be the person who's figuring out 103 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:29.560 the chessboard of your life every single day. What about 104 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:34.120 focus and concentration? Being in school, one of the things 105 00:07:34.199 --> 00:07:37.439 that I had to learn how to do all over 106 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:39.680 again a couple of years ago, well now it's two 107 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:42.439 and a half years ago, is how to concentrate for 108 00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:48.720 more than fifteen minutes at a time. And for all 109 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:54.920 of my favorite add ADHD people, I'm part of your crew. 110 00:07:55.120 --> 00:07:59.920 Because it was really hard, and I made a choice 111 00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:02.439 to go to seminary, So I had to figure out 112 00:08:02.920 --> 00:08:07.600 how can I sit still and learn how to concentrate 113 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:11.079 and read and focus for more than fifteen minutes at 114 00:08:11.079 --> 00:08:16.120 a time. Because I got twenty hours reading every week, folks, right, 115 00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:17.839 So I got to figure out how to make that 116 00:08:17.959 --> 00:08:23.360 happen and then learn because learning is also part of 117 00:08:23.399 --> 00:08:27.000 mental fatigue. How do I learn in little bits and 118 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:32.480 spurts so that stuff can actually stay in there? What 119 00:08:32.519 --> 00:08:39.080 about emotional fatigue? Could be bad relationships? What about things 120 00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:43.240 that we do to our own self in terms of 121 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:50.679 emotional fatigue, like worry without my faith. There's so many 122 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:54.200 things that could be worried about or future pacing right, 123 00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:57.519 creating anxiety about things that have not even happened yet, 124 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:00.559 and yet you're already like living for five or six 125 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:05.279 days ahead, and so like you're creating this anxious spin 126 00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:08.440 on things that haven't even happened instead of staying in 127 00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:14.200 the present. Caregiving, Right, y'all know, I took care my 128 00:09:14.240 --> 00:09:18.279 mom for five years in my home, and caregiving is 129 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:23.080 an emotional experience. So I'm going to hand it to 130 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:25.440 all y'all who are taking care of your parents on 131 00:09:25.440 --> 00:09:31.679 one side and kids on the other. It's a lot grief, right. 132 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:38.600 We all have to manage things that have happened, situations, deaths, 133 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:41.399 all of those pieces that we have as grief. And 134 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:43.799 that's an emotion that a lot of none of us 135 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:45.759 will like to really talk about, and it's not talked 136 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:49.000 about very well in this country at all. I learned 137 00:09:50.279 --> 00:09:52.440 we don't do grief in this country. We'll pull ourselves 138 00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:55.320 up by our bootstraps and keep going, right, like, that's 139 00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:59.600 that's not that's not real, and that's not that creates 140 00:09:59.639 --> 00:10:06.120 its own own emotional fatigue. So you know what about conflict. 141 00:10:07.840 --> 00:10:13.879 So those that kind of emotional fatigue, first of all, 142 00:10:14.039 --> 00:10:17.519 get a therapist, right, I can coach you through a 143 00:10:17.559 --> 00:10:20.960 lot of things, and you need a therapist to work 144 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:27.960 through those conflicts, resolving conflict and working through that emotional 145 00:10:28.039 --> 00:10:32.759 stuff that you've never worked through before. Yeah, I'm just 146 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:37.360 gonna land on that for a moment. What about social fatigue? Right, 147 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:42.759 My kids are like, yeah, my social battery is empty? Yeah, right, 148 00:10:42.919 --> 00:10:49.240 constant interaction, people, pleasing relational demands, that's social fatigue. Like, 149 00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:53.919 there is a need for silence and stillness. Right. The 150 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:57.759 Bible commands us like be still and know that I 151 00:10:57.799 --> 00:11:00.639 am God, because we are not God, and we may 152 00:11:00.679 --> 00:11:04.120 try to play God, and yet that's not our position 153 00:11:04.200 --> 00:11:08.320 at all. Right, So social fatigue, make sure you take 154 00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:12.440 some downtime. Understand what it feels like when your social 155 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:20.879 battery is empty. And y'all, this is real too, spiritual fatigue, right, 156 00:11:21.080 --> 00:11:24.919 And we don't always understand what God is doing in 157 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:28.879 our life, and that can be really discouraging it. Sometimes 158 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:33.159 we can have a lot of church hurt and that 159 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:37.879 can be discouraging. And imperfect people are everywhere. We're all 160 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:42.399 one of them, and church hurt happens because of the 161 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:45.879 imperfect people in the church, not because of God. God 162 00:11:45.960 --> 00:11:51.120 is always there for us, for us for us. But 163 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:56.799 spiritual fatigue is a disconnection, right, and trying to carry 164 00:11:56.879 --> 00:12:00.919 everything by yourself, and we're not designed to do that, right, 165 00:12:02.200 --> 00:12:04.559 We're not designed to do that at all. Jesus says, 166 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:08.279 his light is his load is light. And when we 167 00:12:08.320 --> 00:12:13.279 can allow trust in the Holy Spirit to take care 168 00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:18.840 of things for us, then our burdens we're not carrying 169 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:24.200 those by ourselves, and that helps that spiritual fatigue. So 170 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:30.240 the challenge is that sometimes we're moving so fast that 171 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:36.320 we can't even name which one is really the culprit. Right. 172 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:39.159 The challenge is that these all can feel very similar, 173 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:42.639 and like you don't just wake up one morning and 174 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:48.799 you're like, oh, I'm really experiencing decision fatigue right now. Right, 175 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:52.840 you think like I'm tired, that's what you're thinking, right, Like, 176 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:55.720 I'm just tired and I like my nice, warm bed. 177 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:00.919 But fatigue is not always a lack of energy. Sometimes 178 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:03.879 it's just the accumulated cost of carrying too much for 179 00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:09.200 too long. Right, And I said this in our last episode. 180 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:14.320 But here's the thing, right, our brain is super expensive. 181 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:20.519 And I know I talked about this several episodes ago. Right, However, 182 00:13:20.759 --> 00:13:25.879 this decision fatigue spiritual, mental, emotional, like, all of those 183 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:28.879 things run through our brain, along with all the things 184 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:35.279 that are running in the background. So this is often overlooked. 185 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:39.879 But your brain represents only a small percentage of your body. 186 00:13:39.879 --> 00:13:43.799 Weigh it's about twelve your head is about twelve pounds. Crazy, right, 187 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:50.480 it's a bowling ball on a stick, right. However, your 188 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:55.080 brain uses a tremendous amount of energy from your body. 189 00:13:55.919 --> 00:13:59.480 And even when you're sitting still, right, you're still like 190 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:03.360 is busy. It filters information coming in from all of 191 00:14:03.399 --> 00:14:08.679 your senses, right, your eyes, your ears, your nose, mouths, right, touch. 192 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:13.399 It's filtering all that external information, but it's also filtering 193 00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:18.679 all the internal information interoception. Right, it's filtering all of 194 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:23.480 that information in the background. Your brain is solving problems, right, 195 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:25.960 like all the apps running on your phone or your computer. 196 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:31.879 It's still doing all those things while filtering. It's also 197 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:35.080 predicting outcomes. Right. We talked a little bit about this 198 00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:41.159 a few weeks ago about the predictive nature of our brain, 199 00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:44.679 and when we're moving so fast, your brain is predicting 200 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:51.399 faster and faster and faster, and it's probably inaccurate. So 201 00:14:52.639 --> 00:14:55.080 again we have to figure out how to become more 202 00:14:55.240 --> 00:15:03.799 present for our own energy, to maintain energy regulation. Your 203 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:07.600 brain is also monitoring your entire environment. Right, who's coming 204 00:15:07.720 --> 00:15:11.440 and going? Right? You know, Cooper took a shower and 205 00:15:11.519 --> 00:15:15.000 went into his room. He's downstairs. My other daughter is 206 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:18.000 doing this, she's supposed to be here. Like, we're monitoring 207 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:22.279 what's happening all the time. So your brain never really 208 00:15:22.360 --> 00:15:27.360 clocks out even when you sleep. Right, your brain actually 209 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:36.039 turns on different parts to recover, to assess damage. Right, 210 00:15:36.120 --> 00:15:40.320 It's like your it is like the autobody shop. Right, 211 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:42.720 you take your car in, they assess all the damage 212 00:15:42.759 --> 00:15:46.679 in like under the hood, right on the body, all 213 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:50.679 the places. And your brain is doing that when you sleep. 214 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:55.120 So your brain really never really truly just clocks out. 215 00:15:56.600 --> 00:15:59.960 We do get a really cool flush of cerebro spinal flume. 216 00:16:00.399 --> 00:16:02.759 I don't know if you knew that, but it actually 217 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:05.639 can flush out at night if you get good enough sleep, 218 00:16:05.720 --> 00:16:08.519 So that can take away a lot of like the 219 00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:12.600 toxins that can that can accumulate in your brain. But 220 00:16:12.679 --> 00:16:19.399 that's about sleep, it's about recovery. So you know, in seminary, 221 00:16:19.639 --> 00:16:24.919 I might spend an afternoon sitting in a chair reading theology. Physically, 222 00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:31.559 I'm really demanding, right, I'm just sitting underlining, highlighting. I'm 223 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:37.559 just sitting, but mentally extremely demanding. And the cool thing, right, 224 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:40.480 I have an orr ring. The cool thing is you 225 00:16:40.519 --> 00:16:43.840 can see that stress on a graph with an orr ring. 226 00:16:43.960 --> 00:16:46.440 I don't sell or rings, but I'm just letting you know. 227 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:49.840 And I have literally sat for an afternoon reading and 228 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:56.000 been in the engaged and stressed zone because my brain 229 00:16:56.240 --> 00:16:59.519 is what's working, even though I'm physically just sitting there, 230 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:03.639 and I'm tired by the end of the day, right, 231 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:07.599 Like my brain is tired just from doing that, even 232 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:10.640 though I didn't really move much during the afternoon. Yes, 233 00:17:10.680 --> 00:17:12.720 I went to the gym, Yes I did all those things, 234 00:17:12.759 --> 00:17:17.440 but really, right, I didn't do that much. I just 235 00:17:17.599 --> 00:17:23.279 read one hundred and fifty pages. So why It's really 236 00:17:23.400 --> 00:17:26.799 like all this thinking and remembering and putting in information 237 00:17:26.920 --> 00:17:33.039 requires energy. So thinking is metabolically expensive. And we've talked 238 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:36.359 about metabolism three weeks ago so or two weeks ago, 239 00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:40.880 so thinking about your metabolism from a very different perspective, 240 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:49.720 your brain is very metabolically expensive. And here's some other 241 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:53.720 energy thieves, if you will that nobody really talks about. 242 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:58.680 We know about the brain, right, but the decision fatigue 243 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:04.759 if you haven't really thought about it, haven't haven't really 244 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:10.599 acknowledged it. Maybe, But we make hundreds of teeny thousands, 245 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:14.359 actually of little teeny decisions every day. What am I 246 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:18.119 going to eat? And that could play depending on where 247 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:20.640 you're at in your food journey, right, that can take 248 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:23.039 a lot of time and energy just in your brain. 249 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:27.400 Decision fatigue. Family decisions particularly, we've got little ones, you're 250 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:30.200 making all the decisions for them, right. If you've got 251 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:34.799 bigins like I do, then you're helping them walk through 252 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:39.160 how to make decisions and what decisions to make, not 253 00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:42.480 telling them anymore. What are finances? You have to make 254 00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:45.880 financial decisions? Maybe we're running a little low this month, right, 255 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:48.599 Where are we going to get X amount of dollars 256 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:51.240 to pay for X amount of things that we need 257 00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:55.279 to do? That with finances can be really can create 258 00:18:55.359 --> 00:19:00.720 a lot of decision fatigue. Schedules Oh yeah, oh yeah. 259 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:05.880 Schedules are like playing tetris, right, moving everybody around, making 260 00:19:05.880 --> 00:19:09.039 sure everybody gets picked up, everybody gets to the places 261 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:11.319 where they need to go, and you also got to 262 00:19:11.319 --> 00:19:15.640 work on time. Right, So what about your health decisions? 263 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:17.720 Are you making those decisions? Are you putting those on 264 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:22.839 the back burner? And work decisions? Right? You go to work, 265 00:19:23.079 --> 00:19:25.160 and then you've got a whole other host of the 266 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:27.799 same kind of demands that you have in your family. 267 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:31.359 Does your team need to be managed more? Does your 268 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:35.880 boss need something that you're not aware of? Is your 269 00:19:35.880 --> 00:19:38.759 boss telling you he needs more from you? Right? Is 270 00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:41.200 your team telling you they can't do their job because 271 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:42.839 they don't have X, Y, and z. And you have 272 00:19:42.920 --> 00:19:49.039 to make those decisions. Every single decision costs something. Right. 273 00:19:49.640 --> 00:19:52.720 These are all open loops, and your brain likes to 274 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:56.480 close them. It doesn't do well with a whole bunch 275 00:19:56.519 --> 00:20:04.880 of uncertainty, and so unfinished task require ongoing attention. And 276 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:09.279 we talked about multitasking a while ago. But this whole 277 00:20:09.400 --> 00:20:13.160 multitasking is you start something, you start something, you start something, 278 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:16.799 you start something, you start something. And really, if you 279 00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:19.599 had just finished the one thing and then went to 280 00:20:19.640 --> 00:20:21.839 the next thing and finished it, and then went to 281 00:20:21.880 --> 00:20:25.200 the next thing and finished it, you wouldn't leave your 282 00:20:25.319 --> 00:20:28.279 day with two or three things that were started and 283 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:31.680 not completed. You'd have three completed things that you could 284 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:33.920 pick up the other two on the next day. Right, 285 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:40.920 unanswered emails clutter right now since we've just moved over 286 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:43.599 the last six weeks and now my fiance is starting 287 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:50.119 his moving in process and finishing it now. Husband, Yes, 288 00:20:53.440 --> 00:20:58.039 but there's clutter, right, and that also creates a demand 289 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:03.400 unfinished project and that's again just not finishing things. What 290 00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:07.480 about difficult conversations that you really don't want to have right, 291 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:12.759 Those difficult conversations are an unfinished task and it's running 292 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:14.839 in the background, right, I really need to have this 293 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:19.079 conversation about blah blah blah blah blah. Things you can 294 00:21:19.160 --> 00:21:22.359 do for that unfinished conversation or difficult conversations to start 295 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:24.680 to journal them out and see where they can go, 296 00:21:25.319 --> 00:21:27.400 and then you have at least an idea of where 297 00:21:27.440 --> 00:21:30.200 it can go before you have it right. And then 298 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:32.880 just unresolved decisions, things that you know you need to 299 00:21:32.880 --> 00:21:34.640 make a decision about, where are you're going to go 300 00:21:34.839 --> 00:21:39.039 on your vacation this year? Do you need a new car? Like? 301 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:41.519 Some of those are big things. Some of the smaller 302 00:21:41.559 --> 00:21:44.640 things are like, oh, I need a meal prep right, 303 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:47.720 and you just haven't resolved that you're going to do 304 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:52.559 this thing? For yourself and to really, you know, take 305 00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:56.160 it seriously that your health is important. So it's kind 306 00:21:56.160 --> 00:22:00.680 of like having fifty browser tabs open all the time. 307 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:05.400 Your computer is gonna work, but it's not efficient, right. 308 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:08.559 You get the little flashy thing or the thing bops 309 00:22:08.599 --> 00:22:11.480 down and says, hey, you ram this full, Like, yeah, 310 00:22:11.799 --> 00:22:14.759 it probably is, right, So it's not going to be 311 00:22:14.759 --> 00:22:16.720 able to work as efficiently when you have all those 312 00:22:16.759 --> 00:22:22.000 tabs open. So me, let me throw something out there, 313 00:22:22.039 --> 00:22:25.119 like how many tabs are open in your brain right now? 314 00:22:27.599 --> 00:22:29.119 I know, a couple of weeks ago when I was 315 00:22:29.160 --> 00:22:32.519 planning wedding, I had a million tabs open and not 316 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:34.880 very efficient, not very efficient at all. I had to 317 00:22:34.920 --> 00:22:39.119 slow down and figure out what was important, what really 318 00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:43.039 needed to happen next. Right, But here's the thing, y'all, 319 00:22:43.240 --> 00:22:47.039 And I know that so many of you are carrying 320 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:56.200 a far bigger mental load then you realize, right, I know, 321 00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:02.720 I know, and it's really difficult and it's not a 322 00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:06.839 great place to be, and that can create an emotional 323 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:11.759 load that's going to have a physical cost. And so 324 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:18.119 if you're carrying that worry, grief, guilt, responsibility unresolved, a 325 00:23:18.119 --> 00:23:23.400 whole bunch of unresolved stuff. Ultimately, just because you can't 326 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:29.880 see it, you underestimate its impact. But that emotional energy 327 00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:34.599 is still real energy, and the body is going to 328 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:42.359 respond to emotional experiences physiologically. Right. Your thoughts affect your physiology. 329 00:23:43.079 --> 00:23:48.559 Your relationships affect your physiology. Your mental and emotional world, 330 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:54.319 your spiritual world affects your physiology. So think about how 331 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:59.079 you feel after a difficult conversation or family conflict, or 332 00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:03.039 receiving bad news. Is right, you didn't just run a marathon, 333 00:24:04.480 --> 00:24:06.880 but you feel like it. Right, you feel like you 334 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:12.240 just got run over by a truck. Right, You're pre drained. 335 00:24:13.640 --> 00:24:18.079 But that's emotional work, and that emotional work really requires 336 00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:24.519 a lot of energetic resources. And we don't always give 337 00:24:24.920 --> 00:24:28.839 credence to those to that, right, We don't realize how 338 00:24:28.920 --> 00:24:33.680 much energy that that is draining from us. So your 339 00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:40.400 body experience is way more than physical labor as work, right, 340 00:24:40.599 --> 00:24:43.279 mental emotional We just talked about all that. So your 341 00:24:43.319 --> 00:24:49.039 body experiences more than physical labor, like physicality as work, 342 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:53.960 and your attention. Right, this is a this is a 343 00:24:54.039 --> 00:24:59.960 metabolic resource. It can be and it's it's really the 344 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:02.960 it's one of the biggest hidden energy leaks in modern 345 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:06.240 life because we protect our money, our schedules, our calories, 346 00:25:07.720 --> 00:25:13.799 but few people really protect their attention. And you know, 347 00:25:13.880 --> 00:25:16.079 how many notifications do you get on your phone? How 348 00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:20.319 many emails are you getting? Texts? Social media, news, constant interruptions. 349 00:25:20.440 --> 00:25:26.480 These things require our brain to shift gears every time 350 00:25:26.839 --> 00:25:29.680 we see them. Like notifications are off on my phone, 351 00:25:30.119 --> 00:25:32.880 I don't want them. I have time where I go 352 00:25:32.920 --> 00:25:37.160 to my emails, my text certain people can notify me right, 353 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:39.200 like you can set that up. I don't do a 354 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:42.720 lot of social media. I just don't have a ton 355 00:25:42.759 --> 00:25:44.319 of time to do that, and I don't want to 356 00:25:44.319 --> 00:25:51.119 get sucked into that that rabbit hole of that attention 357 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:56.920 energy drain, right and every because see here's every time 358 00:25:56.960 --> 00:25:59.400 you shift right, Okay, I'm just going to scroll for 359 00:25:59.400 --> 00:26:01.160 a few minutes, and then you get back to work 360 00:26:01.319 --> 00:26:03.960 and then you're like, oh I need And then every 361 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:11.359 time we shift gears, it requires energy. So y'all, y'all 362 00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:15.599 aren't always really tired because you're dealing with too much. 363 00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:21.440 You're tired because your attention is being pulled in so 364 00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:28.400 many directions, right, I get it, I know, right, y'all 365 00:26:28.440 --> 00:26:31.599 know a little bit about my life and stuff. And 366 00:26:31.640 --> 00:26:33.680 there are days that I feel like I am just 367 00:26:34.200 --> 00:26:36.359 like my head is on swivel. Right, it's just going 368 00:26:36.440 --> 00:26:38.079 round and round and I don't even know where to 369 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:42.720 stop for my attention, and it's exhausting and we're draining 370 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:48.759 our resources when we do that. So where your attention goes, 371 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:52.880 your energy will follow. Where your attention goes, your energy 372 00:26:52.960 --> 00:26:58.000 will follow. So this is where our physiology can meet 373 00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:02.559 some wisdom. If you will take a moment right. You 374 00:27:02.640 --> 00:27:06.400 may think that energy management means more caffeine, more motivation, 375 00:27:06.839 --> 00:27:11.799 more discipline, more nicotine, whatever that thing is. But here's 376 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:16.480 the thing about stewardship. Stewardship includes learning where your energy 377 00:27:16.599 --> 00:27:21.119 is going and where does it need to go. And 378 00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:24.279 sometimes the answer isn't creating more energy or having another 379 00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:31.119 cup of coffee. Sometimes the answer is reducing unnecessary energy drains. 380 00:27:32.599 --> 00:27:36.680 Because stewardship really looks like closing those open loops, right, 381 00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:40.079 all those unfinished projects one a month, just start hat, 382 00:27:40.319 --> 00:27:44.799 just start checking them off. Right. It requires setting some boundaries, 383 00:27:46.279 --> 00:27:50.920 It requires simplifying decisions like I know I have definitely 384 00:27:51.240 --> 00:27:54.920 I can definitely be the as complicated as possible queen 385 00:27:55.079 --> 00:27:59.759 making things really difficult. So like when I realize that 386 00:27:59.799 --> 00:28:02.880 I'm like spinning into something that really, Okay, this is 387 00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:05.359 a simple decision. This does not need to be this complicated. 388 00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:08.640 It's just a clue for me, Like, Okay, I'm headed 389 00:28:08.680 --> 00:28:10.680 down a rabbit trail that I don't need to go down, 390 00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:15.200 and that helps me protect my attention, It creates margin, 391 00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:17.720 and it allows me to spend some time with God 392 00:28:17.880 --> 00:28:22.559 that really is going to undergird all of these other things. 393 00:28:23.400 --> 00:28:27.400 So because energy is a resource, right, Energy is a resource, 394 00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:31.519 and every resource that we have is meant to be stewarded. 395 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:36.200 Oh I know, right, Like we steward our money, We 396 00:28:36.279 --> 00:28:38.480 steward the things that God has given us. We take 397 00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:40.720 care of our homes, we take care of our children, 398 00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:43.079 we take care of all the blessings in our life 399 00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:44.839 and things sometimes that we don't even want to take 400 00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:48.519 care of, but we do anyway. However, we're not necessarily 401 00:28:48.599 --> 00:28:50.880