The Good Kind of Tired

You know the kind of tired you are when you sleep too late or stay inactive all day? Perhaps it's better referred to as sleepiness or lethargy. But for now, for the sake of contrast, it's the bad kind of tired. It's the kind of tired that means you don't have the energy or motivation to do much of anything, but also doesn't really make you want to sleep. In fact, when you're the bad kind of tired, you often can't sleep.

Right now, I'm the good kind of tired. It's the kind of tired that that starts when you get three hours of sleep because you're up working on a circuit design problem that's frustrating at first but kind of fun when you solve your problems and end up with an elegant solution. This kind of tired grows out of that initial exhaustion when you get nine hours of sleep the next night but still have to power through a full day of commitments. It is more subtle then. You feel it in your joints and every time you rub your head. Then this kind of tired hits you when you do your last workout of the week. It spreads through your arms and your legs. It settles into the soles of your feet and crawls out to your fingertips where it is felt with every last key you type.

Still, this kind of tired is optimistic. It would love to go out and do something. Maybe frisbee? But it's cold outside. And no one can think of anything to do. As you watch The Fifth Element, this kind of tired starts to remind you that what you really want is sleep. So as you savor one more 60% dark chocolate square you begin to really notice the feeling in your toes as they play with the table. The soothing massage of your neck on the back of the couch. And when someone suggests playing Gauntlet, this kind of tired pulls you, strong and seductive, away to your bed.

It waits, patiently at first, for you to do what you need to do at the end of the night—brushing your teeth, swishing from your new bottle of Listerine, clearing papers and books from your bed. But as you type the post you missed last night because you wanted nine hours of sleep and didn't have one of the pictures you wanted, this kind of tired starts to pull a little harder. As the message goes on, you go slower and slower and want more and more to give in and burrow into the mattress and pillow, pulling your blanket tight, and sinking beautifully and blissfully into a long-awaited and well-deserved sleep. And so, with the sounds of swords and mages coming from the tv in the background, you finally... happily... serenely... collapse.