ARE YOU?BURNOUT: A New Thought In The Ether

By: Nougye Mutungi Mukoma

Burnout is a new word that you may have become familiar with within your environment. This word is pretty self-explanatory. If you put some firewood in a fire and later return to it, you’ll probably find that the wood “burnt out.” Now, imagine the same happening with a human being, except, with us, it doesn’t lead to a literal burning of our bodies. But what happens inside of us, is no less destructive.

Burnout - What It Is And How We Experience It

In my observation and experience, burnout is the using of your energy improperly such that you feel pulled apart in attention and intention. It is a state of misalignment from your life’s purpose, where you feel forced into doing things that are incongruent with your highest truth.

What is intriguing about burnout is that you not only feel it on a physical level but also in your mind, heart, and your very spirit. I would best explain burnout as the expansion of energy that is felt throughout the mind, body, and soul, where this expansion may not be of the greatest or highest first cause to your being. Pretty deep, isn’t it?

Now, the burnout you experience can come from many places. It could be the result of your environment, relationships, place of work, career, health, financial issues, or just your everyday life’s journey. This word and its energy when imposed, may hurt you and your life’s quality, you must ponder upon it and gain clarity on your dealing with it.

Comprehending Burnout - What Questions To Ask?

Most of us have been taught since childhood to stay silent whenever we experience difficulties or issues we can’t explain. We are often told to put our heads down and keep doing our work…

“Be seen and not heard”.

Our truth is we are humans. We have a beating heart and a soul that seeks ultimate expansion. This is why when something is wrong, such as burnout, it is extremely important to comprehend it, and address it, to move forward. And I think now is a good time for this movement since there has been a shift within the greater mind that is allowing us to question whether we are aligned with our highest truth.

BURNOUT, WHERE TO START?

I think you can begin by pondering on your circumstances. Take a look at all the things going on in your life. Are they uplifting you or draining your energies? Do they bring you peace or conflict? You should also see whether your body, mind, and spirit are being properly nourished, if at all! You can answer this by observing what you feed yourself in terms of your choice of media, the people you spend the most time with, etc.

Then, look at the decisions you have made recently… no matter how small or big. Have these decisions come from your inner inspiration or thoughts outside of you? For instance, are the decisions relating to your place of living, family, situations, friends, relationships, work, career, dreams, hopes, wishes, etc. aligned with your highest truth? Or were they influenced by forces not in your control that intend to lead you away from your true self, and intentions?

Dealing With Burnout And Moving Forward

I want to take a moment here and say that you always need to be careful of other people’s words. Words can impose their definitions upon your psyche, which is how you get conditioned in the first place. And don’t forget about the placebo effect where your mind convinces itself that something is true based on information gathered from outside. This has even been proven in research.

If you find that you have been led away from your purpose, you need to take a pause and rebuild your fragmented mind. Invest in a self-retreat, regroup, and recapture your thoughts, and free your will. Can’t afford a retreat, spend some time in nature and do the things you truly love and enjoy. Spend time with the people you love and rest. This can all certainly help ease the pain and suffering of your mind that have rendered you exhausted.

Also, pray whenever you can, meditate daily, and spend some time in solitude introspecting. The best way to shift your outer world is always by assessing your inner world. The other way around only works for a short duration, leading once again to a feeling of being stuck or experiencing burnout. This previous thought can be an entire blog in itself!

Anyway, again, my blog is meant to help bring insight, and the takeaway here is that the mind will need knowledge to expand and create new realities and for clearer perceptions. So take your burnouts as an indication that you are not in alignment with your highest truth.

Look at yourself and provide “introspect care”. This is a new word I’m using and I think it can make a huge difference in your life. Once you get into this habit, you can expand it into every sector of your life, which will create a positive feedback loop!

BE AWARE

I often find that those who don’t speak up suffer burnouts terribly to the point of illness. This is because they internalize their pain, which leads to anxiety, depression, resentment, and feelings of severe exhaustion in the body and mind. So, if you’re not someone who speaks up, or you keep grudges, if you tend to be passive-aggressive, there is a high chance that this could lead to burnout.

On the other hand, those who express their existence through bully tactics and words of the altercation may also experience burnout. This is because they too are negatively misusing their internal energy.

So, what I want to say here is that you need to seek balance, or what we call homeostasis. Homeostasis is nature’s law and principle and is indeed the key to wellness in this reality we live in. We don’t have to look beyond ourselves for this knowledge, as our body and mind will alert us to take a step back, take a nap, reassess that relationship, that job, that business, that venture, and this is the inner outlier world thermostat that brings you back to alignment.

I hope this brought you the insight needed to make a difference in your day and life.

Blessings,

Nougye