Healing For Emotional Drain and Burnout - God's Way.

Burnout is a real thing that stems from having life draining you of your mental strength and not having the right source refilling you. I have always had multiple parts of my life running full steam simultaneously and, for many years, had prided myself in keeping them all running. A successful marketing career, a writing ministry, an inspirational lifestyle business, my family, two amazing kids, and many other things all running at maximum capacity. And when asked how I could keep it all together, I always said by God's grace, good planning and excellent time management. 

 

Well, last year, I had all three going well but ended up emotionally drained and ultimately burnout. I lost my energy, drive, inspiration, and motivation. I felt completely stressed out and on edge. My calm went out the window, my mind wholly blocked to creative ideas. My sleep was even shorter than usual. At some point, I noticed my joy was waning, and it was at that point I decided something had to give. I evaluated all areas of my life and quickly recognized the primary cause of the chaos was my work. My work life had become so competitive, riddled with office politics and many changes, and it had started to throw the rest of my life out of balance. 

 

Matthew 11:28, KJV: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

 

I knew it was "come to Jesus" time. So I decided to take time off everything and go on a two-week vacation to rest, recharge, and reevaluate my priorities. The time off was spent focusing on gaining back three things I had lost because of the burnout, three pillars on which my entire life's success rests. They are God's Peace, his Presence, and my Passion.

 

Peace 

This is a gift from God. An ability to stay calm during trouble and trust in God. I took stock of my life to see what was causing me to lose peace and what was driving me completely insane. The number one culprit was my work. I further evaluated if the situation at work was one I could change. The hard truth – no, cause my attempt at changing what was unchangeable was the root cause of all the drama. My game plan was to move out of that role the first chance I got. And the moment I made up my mind to make a move, I felt my peace coming back, even though the situation was still very much there. You can't stay energized, happy and focused in a chaotic situation that you can't change. But whatever the chaos, you can bring it to God in prayer. Ask for the strength to make the right change at the right time. If you feel troubled and overwhelmed, it's "Come to Jesus" time. Ask him for his peace to fill your mind, the peace above all human understanding. You need your mind to be at ease to make an impact and enjoy your life.

 

"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. "Philippians 4:6 KJV

 

Presence 

One of the things I cherish the most in my life is the feeling of knowing that God is always with me. It's experiencing his presence in my daily waking moments. Nothing gives more joy, calm, and a sense of fulfillment and fellowship than the presence of God. Unfortunately, with all the disruption in my mind and my peace going out the window, I couldn't feel God's presence with me like I used to. Not that he wasn't there, I was just too busy, disturbed and stressed to notice. I kept my daily devotion time going and always enjoyed that calm I gained at that moment, but the second I stepped away from my prayers or bible study, all hell broke loose in my mind.  So when I took a break, I prayed in the morning and throughout the day. I kept my thoughts on bible verses and words of promises. I remember the train rides I took and how sitting by the window and looking at beautiful mountain ranges stirred up much awe and love for my Creator. I took the time to see the world around me and consciously stayed in God's presence throughout my day. The more I consciously stayed connected to God throughout the day, the more joy was returned to me.

 

"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." Psalm 16: 11 kjv

 

Passion 

 O dear! You guessed right! My passion and energy waned as this feeling of being completely burned out and tired lingered. And that annoyed me. I felt angry that I didn't have my usual zero-to-a-hundred-in-a-second energy. I could not muster the drive to do things I would usually jump out of bed excited to do. I felt even guiltier unable to muster the strength to keep up with my kids and enjoy their presence—something I adore. I felt like something had been stolen, and that something was my passion for life, and I needed it back. That I couldn't let happen. I believe God gave us this life to enjoy and live passionately. I needed my passion back; I needed my life back.

 

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 KJV

 

In my "Come to Jesus' moment, during my time off, I started to reflect on who I am as a person. My skills, my abilities, the things I liked and the things I didn't. I began to remind myself of why I was doing certain things in my life. I read a fantastic book titled Designing your worklife by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. The key takeaway for me was to categorize my activities into three buckets; if anything didn't fall into one of those three, I wouldn't do it anymore. Here are the three priority buckets:

• Earn an income
• Make an impact
• Express my creativity

Reflecting on my activities helped me rethink why I started doing them in the first place. Because I found my 'why,' I reignited the passion for delivering on the 'how". I spent some time asking God to restore the joy of my salvation and everything else. Everything that made my life, my life.

 

God's Peace, his Presence and your Passion are three elements of a happy, fulfilled life. If you are feeling stressed out, overwhelmed, depressed, spinning out of control, or watching your life play out before you without your input, it's time to take a break. Stop, take a pause, relax, reevaluate, and recharge. Spend time with God and pray for his peace and the strength to walk away from anything stealing your peace. And if it's a situation you can't change, ask him to give you his peace in the storm and help you calm the raging seas. Then invite his presence to come into your life and make the conscious effort to remain in him throughout the day.  Don't step out of the bubble of God's presence when you go about your day. Keep a verse in your heart and think about it from time to time. Write his promises on sticky notes and place them around your home or office. Sneak in silent prayers when having lunch. Remain in his presence. 

 

And finally, get your passion back! Take an inventory of your life – decide what your three buckets are and if any activity doesn't fit in, kick it out. It's time to flame those dying ambers. Your life matters to God as he invested in creating you. You are a priceless work of art placed on this earth to do amazing things that highlight his glory. So get your fire back, rediscover yourself and work in the totality of who God created you to be. Your life is yours. Keep your peace, walk in his presence and live passionately, being all he created you to be. Your healing may not happen overnight, keep at it, and focus your time on regaining his peace, staying in his presence and living out your passions. 

 

"For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." Isaiah 51:3 (KJV)