Lesson: Never trust a tired mind. There is something rather ironic about the last twenty-four hours. Today is March 11, and the turn of events over the past day has been strangely revealing. My mother successfully came through surgery yesterday, which of course required a good amount of travel, attention, and back-and-forth coordination. It was one of those days where you are moving constantly, focused on logistics, people, and outcomes. By the time the evening arrived, I was exhausted. Not just physically tired, but mentally depleted. The kind of fatigue that creeps into your thinking without announcing itself. I went to bed at 9:30 last night, which for me is unusual. I did not fall asleep with any sense of accomplishment or closure either. In fact, the feeling that hung over me was something closer to frustration and worthlessness. It is a rare thing for me to feel that way. But fatigue does strange things to the mind. When the mind is strong, clear, and rested, life seems manageable. Decisions are easier. The world appears structured and understandable. But when the mind becomes tired or stressed, the entire emotional landscape changes. Everything becomes heavier, more negative, more dramatic. The irony is that in those moments we rarely realize the true cause. We think the feeling itself is reality. In hindsight, it becomes obvious. Poor decisions almost always follow a tired or clouded mind. We know this intellectually. Everyone says the same things. Get enough sleep. Exercise. Take care of your body. Simple advice. But in practice, it is surprisingly difficult to recognize when you are actually operating under a compromised mental state. Sometimes the mind is so tired that it cannot recognize its own weakness. I can think of countless moments in my life when judgments were made under those conditions. Words spoken in frustration. Opinions formed under pressure. Decisions cast under moods that had nothing to do with the actual reality of the situation.