My candle burns at both ends;It will not last the night.
– Edna St. Vincent Millay
Setting the world on fire comes with risks. Unfortunately we usually don’t realize this until the smoke gets in our eyes.
Burnout is a condition caused by unbalance: too much work or responsibility, too little time to do it, over too long a period. We’ve been cruising in the fast lane but we’ve been running on fumes rather than on fuel. Often we think that burnout is something that just happens to other people, to workaholics and perfectionists. But it happens to anyone who cares too much and over-commits. It’s easy to do! Family and friends, social activities, volunteer organizations, political agendas or campaigns, business related activities, school activities for the children all require “our” special talents and attention. Burnout creeps upon us like a smoldering flame, and can be just as deadly as a flash fire.
Sometimes we are “just toasted” with that feeling of total exhaustion at the completion of an intense project. A week of down time to rest and recover enables us to resume a more realistic pace. But first-degree burnout — the soul snuffer — comes from living unbalanced for years – when what was supposed to be a temporary situation becomes a lifestyle.
Burnout often begins with an illness like a lingering flu or chronic fatigue syndrome accompanied by depression. Sometimes burnout can be hard to distinguish from a creative dry spell, especially for those who are good at denial.
It’s burnout when you go to bed exhausted every night and wake up tired every morning – when no amount of sleep refreshes you, month after month. Burnout is when everything becomes too much effort: combing your hair, fixing a meal or even going out to dinner. It’s burnout when you find that you are cranky all the time, or bursting into tears, or going into fits of rage at the slightest provocation. It’s burnout when you dread the next phone call. It’s burnout when you feel trapped and hopeless, unable to dream, experience pleasure, or find contentment. It’s burnout when neither big thrills nor little moments have the power to move you – when nothing satisfies you because you haven’t a clue what’s wrong or how to fix it. Because everything’s wrong! … And something is wrong – actually something is terribly out of whack: You!
It’s burnout when you feel there is not one other person on the face of the earth who can help you. And you are right! You are the only person who can make the lifestyle changes that need to be made. If you continue on this path you risk hitting a roadblock that can be much worse than taking a slower pace. So if you are facing burnout, if you are feeling that exhausted stressed-out feeling, take time throughout the day to stop and take a few deep breaths and remind yourself that in ten years this is not going to make a bit of difference. Just slow down! You are more important that whatever is going on! Find a good book to read or rent a few movies and allow yourself at least an hour a day, every day, to relax and enjoy yourself. Or have coffee with a friend, or a massage, or go for a walk along the beach, or take a bubble bath complete with candles and aromatherapy and just soak up the soothing warmth. Taking time every day for yourself can head off that body-depleting, soul-snuffing case of burnout!
If you are feeling stressed and burnt out and don’t know how to regain your motivation and positive frame of mind, consider giving me a call for a free consultation 415-819-8769.
Adapted from: Simple Abundance Day Book of Comfort and Joy, by Sarah Ban Breathnauch