Chronically tired

A friend once told me: “You are always tired”. Apparently when I am asked about how am I doing, I very often say: “I am tired”. I felt a bit embarrassed because I have a relaxed life, why should I feel tired all the time? The truth is I do. I get tired if I don’t sleep eight hours a night, if I am in a noisy environment, if I don’t spend enough time alone and if I don’t eat well. I am weak and I look grey. From that day on I started paying more attention to other people’s lives, like one of my work colleagues who has three kids and who I never heard complain. Even more, she is always smiling. How does she do it?
I have a lot of respect for working mothers (and some working fathers). After a day at work all I want is a nice dinner and some silence. I guess mothers don’t get much of it. Like they often do not get enough sleep and that would just kill me. I can’t even imagine travelling with kids, carrying toys, food, clothes, looking for a toilet and making sure they don’t get lost. It is not an easy life and social pressure does not help much as mothers are made to feel guilty about their decision to continue working and made to feel guilty if they decide to stay at home. Heartless career makers versus no ambition.
Once, in the train, a man made a nasty remark about a woman that was putting on makeup, she stood up and said that she’s been up for more than 2 hours, she’s been running around, showering, dressing up and feeding the kids, preparing lunch boxes and planning dinner, and therefore she feels entitled to try to make her face look less tired in the train, her only quiet moment of her day. I felt like clapping and the man felt embarrassed.