Mindcoolness

A Cool Mind for a Full Life

  • Blog
  • Book
  • Glossary
  • About
  • Contact

Little Lessons From Total Exhaustion

March 14, 2017 Dominic Reichl

If I have learned anything during the past few weeks of relentless overworking and overtraining, it is that exhaustion is a state of blissful weakness. Fatigue weakens the Will, but it also concentrates it, focuses it on the essentials: on breathing, on being, and on staying alive. Naturally, this cools the mind—if you let it.

In a state of total exhaustion, you have no energy to think unnecessary thoughts, no energy to feel unnecessary emotions, and no energy to give a fuck about anything other than your conscious breath. This is freedom through strength, whereby all strength is gone. It is a freedom of nature, and that is what I have learned to appreciate it as. Ad libertatem naturae!

Now the time has come to restore balance: to let the body heal, let the nervous system recover, and let the Will regain its strength. This is the moment where many people revert to drugs. O, am I tempted to do so myself! After all, I feel like shit, my head drones painfully, and my body moves like a sad bag of mashed potatoes. But I keep my hand away from the pills and the weed and the kratom. I will accept no exogenous force to help me heal myself. I even stay away from coffee and tea. I shall seek no easy escape. My Will brought me here, my Will will get me out of here. And if I were to alter my consciousness artificially, I would deprive myself of all the potential growth ahead of me. No, I will not alienate myself from this natural state of my mind.

Thus, I embrace the chilly coolness of my mind, embrace the transient limitedness of my Will, and embrace the wisdom of my self-healing body. I just have to give it the serene, mindful attention it demands—and deserves.

total exhaustion

Further Reading

  • Exhaustion: The Dark Side of Willpower
  • How Drugs Impede Self-Mastery
  • Should You Listen to Your Body?
  • A Hard Workout Does Not Sap but Boosts Willpower
  • What Is Fatigue? Muscles, Willpower, and Mental Toughness

Blog body-intelligence, personal-development

Latest Post

Newsletter

Please check your inbox to confirm your subscription.

Copyright © 2022 • Content Disclaimer • Privacy Policy • Affiliate Disclosure • About
Dear reader, this website uses cookies for analytical purposes. We'll assume you're ok with it, but you can opt-out if you wish.
OK Give me more information.
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Posting....