I Forgot How Much Jetlag Sucks! (or, `some super-tired half-thoughts on the complexity of being human`)

I had an idea for a blog post on my flight over to Japan. I made notes about it during the train journey across to the guest house I`m staying in. I figured I`d type them up into a proper little article Sunday evening or sometime Monday. But my laptop battery had died and I`d forgotten to bring an adaptor for the plug.

I bought an adaptor today so my laptop is ready to go. My brain is not. Just . . . nope.

I`ve made this journey from UK to Japan and back a number of times now (genuinely too tired to count them up), but I always forget what the jetlag is like. And for some reason I decide to make up what it will be like: my body clock being off by eight hours so that I feel awake in the evening and sleepy in the morning. But its not like that at all.

I drift in and out of being tired and awake, seemingly at random. And the same with hunger. Im going from zero appetite to, “Is it illegal to grab and eat crows?” with no warning at all. Luckily crows are nearly impossible to catch, so I`ve avoided legal recourse so far.

But you didn’t come here to just read about my misery (or if you did, you can stop now because it`s all serious chat` from here on in). The problem is, though, that when my body doesn’t get enough sleep and/or food at the right time, my head stops working so well, and tasks like drawing spiritual lessons out of life experiences really, really . . . yeah, cant do it!

And that`s frustrating for someone like me, who works with words for a living (as much as missionaries work for their living). In the culture of Japan where (it feels like) the solution to most difficulties is to `ganbaru` – “dig deep,” “work hard,” “do you best!” And with a heritage of reliance on prayer to take tasks from `impossible` to `difficult` to `done.`

Because as people we are connected beings. And that means that sometimes the solution to a problem, like being able to turn rough notes into a clear and engaging blog post, is not better writing strategies, or just to dig deep and plough through, or even not to turn to prayer. But actually to rest, eat, sleep, drink plenty of water, and wait for the jetlag to pass.

So that`s what I`m going to do. Come back next week for the blog post that is still currently a pile of mush in the back of my brain (but don`t get your hopes up too much!).