If you’re a shift worker, then the term ‘exhaustion’ is certainly a familiar word in your vocabulary. But what about extreme exhaustion? You know, when you’re feeling so fatigued that you just can’t cope anymore.
Well today’s post is going to be a dedication.
A dedication to those who experienced extreme exhaustion on a different scale when they lost their homes (or part of), to the devastating floods that hit my home town of Brisbane, Queensland in Australia this week.
And I have to say after witnessing my fellow Australians lose parts of their home or in some cases, their entire house to the devastating floods I have felt quite numb and lost for words.
Because not only did people lose their homes, some paid the ultimate price and lost their lives.
To say that it has been a sad and incredibly emotional week is an understatement.
But then something happened that lifted my spirits entirely.
Just days after the waters began to recede in Brisbane, approximately 50,000 volunteers from around the city donned their gum boots and headed towards the devastated suburbs with brooms, buckets and a determination to get our city clean again.
In fact at times there were over 20 people in each house helping to clean up and hose away the thick, smelly mud that had covered it from floor to ceiling.
And a lot of these volunteers included people from all walks of life – complete strangers coming together to help others less fortunate than themselves.
They worked tirelessly to help restore power to affected areas; to help oversee the running of the Evacuation Centres where so many people were forced to take refuge when the Brisbane River burst its banks; and to help provide food, water and clothing to those who had lost everything.
Just like a shift worker experiences extreme exhaustion from getting up in the middle of the night, or having to work the night shift – these 50,000-strong rally of volunteers were up and out of bed when others were still resting and sound asleep in bed.
As they struggled with extreme physical exhaustion – it was quickly forgotten in favour of helping others. Which as I’m sure you would agree, is truly inspiring stuff.
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