Ever Feel Like…Throwing up your middle finger to the world?

Do you wake up ready to hit the ground running?

Or . . .

Do you wake up and think, “Oh my gosh, I certainly am not looking forward to today.”

Recently, a colleague/friend said, “I just feel like throwing my middle finger to the world.”

I thought, “Ok . . . I get it. But that’s probably not your best path forward. First, if you want to keep your job . . . I don’t think a pastor throwing up the middle finger will get you anywhere. Secondly, that tells me something … something’s going on inside you. Maybe you are just tired. Soul tired. Maybe you are burned out.”

This person is one of the highest integrity and has deep compassion and love for all people.

They are always willing to do whatever/whenever they need to do to share the love with all. And maybe that’s their problem . . .

We are called to “let our inner light shine so that others may see God in and through us.”

Sometimes letting our light shine gets in the way of our light shining if that makes any sense.

We each live within the risk of burning ourselves out with our flame.

We try to be superhuman. We try to do it all and do it all with not just excellence but perfection. And when we fail, there is no room to fail.

Guess what? We can only do that for so long, and then we find ourselves in the middle of this ” Burnout space.”

Burnout is the experience of emotional and physical exhaustion due to chronic stress in our lives. Burnout exhaustion can also be marked by general fatigue, lack of motivation to accomplish things, discontentment with one’s work, and/or self-criticism about one’s performance. There are also some health signs, including (but not limited to) headaches, stomach problems, trouble sleeping, irritability with others, or using substances such as alcohol or food to feel better.

At the beginning of burnout, we often wonder if we are just lazy. We feel guilty for not wanting to do what we would normally do. Thus the spiral begins.

“Burnout is what happens when you try to avoid being human for too long.” -Michael Gungor

Are you avoiding acknowledging that you are human? Where are you placing expectations on yourself? Maybe it is time to take a second look.

Grace and Peace,

Andrea

Matthew 11:28-30

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me, and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me, and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (The Message)