Finding Relief from Burnout: How to Lighten Your Load and Embrace Joy

There are so many times when any one of us, including me, might want to throw our hands up and say fuck it. Fuck this shit. I’m tired. I cannot perform anymore. I need a break from being all things to all people. Adulting is hard, and sometimes I just need a minute to be myself without the demands and expectations of the outside world.

We burn the candle at both ends and wonder why we are left feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, and energetically drained.

The Importance of Taking a Break

It’s okay to pause. It’s okay to stop thinking about things and just be. It’s okay to get real and let your freak flag fly or do whatever it is that brings you joy.

Practical Steps to Lighten Your Load

I want to give you permission to lighten your load. Here’s how to do it:

1. Don’t overthink. There is no right or wrong. You don’t have to have all the answers or know what the end result will be. Get comfortable with being in this moment and letting it play out. 
2. Release control. Delegate your duties – especially in terms of all that invisible work you mamas are doing out there. Let your partner, your family, your friends help you.
3. Connect with joyful things. What lights you up? Focus on that for a change.
4. Regain your perspective. Operate from your highest self not from a place of ego. Zoom out and ask yourself if the way you feel is the way you want to feel.
5. Surrender. Drop any resistance that’s there. Let go of grasping and clinging. They are restrictive and limiting. Give up the struggle so you can make room for joy.

Our culture teaches us to be afraid of everything. Therefore, our ego is on high alert most of the time. When we are living in a state of fear, we operate from our minds/ ego, not from our heart/ body. 

Choosing Joy Over Fear

Try to choose a different way before you reach burnout. Try to stop making decisions from an egocentric place because it’s an unreliable source. The truth is, you are going to have to say fuck it one way or the other. Do you want it to come from a place of fear and despair OR from a place of surrender and joy?

The amazing thing is you get to decide

I am Rachel Gordon, a Harvard educated Buddhist Psychotherapist, practicing in the Denver Metro Area. If you would like to learn more about detaching from your thoughts, feeling your feelings, living wholeheartedly, and finding more joy please call (303) 688-6698 or click here to schedule with me.