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Hello, burnout.  We meet again, I see you, I feel you, and I thank you.  

Picture a match.  You’re holding it in your hand, maybe lighting candles on a cake, maybe lighting a fire, but you’re holding and it’s getting closer and closer to your finger.  You want to keep going, just one more candle!  But the flame is getting hotter so your heart rate goes up and you move faster to the next candle and your fingers begin to hurt, and then

It’s too late.

You got burned.

You drop the match and kiss your fingertips and feel so silly and also OUCH!

That is burnout.

Burnout is deeply painful, but it is often a result of growth (often, growing too fast).  We allow ego to hop in and take charge -- which leads us to say "I can do that!" waaay too often. 

But there are some benefits to burnout too.  It acts as an irrefutable reminder that I do not need to please everyone and solving all problems.  To stop holding pain and worry.  It is a reminder that I do not need to show up in every way and to rely on my support structure.  

Burnout clearly let me know that I was allowing anxiety to be my first response, rather than trusting that everything will be fine.  It is a clear, loud sign that I was NOT OPERATING WITHIN MY VALUES

Burnout can be a generous gift -- a moment of course correction before it's too late.

And when you heal from burnout, oh life is so sweet.  IF you have actively and carefully healed and set up some boundaries, the upsides of burnout can be:

— energy

— hard truths

— realignment

— honesty

— asking for help

— accepting help

— losing the absurd idea that you can or should do it all

— a deeper love for what matters

— humility

— healing

The sweetest thing about burnout is it requires you to be honest with your limits

It allows you to pay attention.  And attention is the clearest doorway to gratitude.