Saturday, January 27, 2018

Dealing with Anger and Burnout


Pondering the Future
(Reply hazy try again...)

“There are more things to alarm us than to harm us, and we suffer more often in apprehension than reality.”
Seneca

If Things are so Good, why am I so Angry?

We've all been there. 

There's nothing wrong. In fact things have been going pretty good. But home and work are stressful and you've been working too many hours to get to the end of those great life-enhancing projects. 

You pride yourself on doing outstanding work and achieving what you put your mind to, so you put your all into each new project that comes your way. 
At work this focus on excellence brings you praise from your boss and lands you great projects where you can really showcase your skills. Everyone loves your work and sings your praises. You're smart, responsive, creative and productive. 
At home, you're on-track with multiple plans for family, home and building for your future.

So why are you feeling anti-social and mad at the world--wanting to zone out instead of socialize--and snapping other people's heads off?


Burnout and Anger
Like so many who desire to make their mark on the world you've probably given your all without sufficiently replenishing your energy along the way. 
When we fail to adequately engage in non-productive play to re-balance our spirits, our fear and anger over self-imposed expectations build up and our fire and drive quickly extinguish. This is simply a case of burnout caused by our failure to insert fun, play and nothingness into our daily line up.

So if your emotions suddenly burst into fiery anger after you've been pushing yourself too hard,  you know it's time to re-balance yourself and stop obsessing on growth and success.

“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”
Winnie the Pooh

How to Regain the Fire in Your Belly and Lose the Anger in Your Head

You already know you want to excel and be the best you can be. So why is it so difficult for you to do what you already know you need to do to maintain that fire in your belly and rid yourself of the anger in your head? 
Times of drive must be balanced with times of idling.

Give yourself equal time living as your private free-flowing, unjudged self as you give yourself living as your 'face-showing' public persona. Staying on 24/7 is crazy-making behavior that leads to burnout, self-doubts and anger.

The antidote to burnout is to practice doing nothing--regularly

Consciously plan fun or relaxing downtime into your week to rid yourself of that subtle ever-pervasive infiltration of expectations to always be producing and achieving. 


Idling

How to Succeed at Idling

💓Stop.
💙Do nothing.
💚Unplug.
💛Give in to that nap.
💜Unplan.
💓Have a dream-free day.
💙Lose the expectations.
💚Accomplish nothing.
💛Play.

Sign Up for Free E-mail updates
                          
For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes letting go and moving forward with life easier than ever before.

Do you know someone who could benefit from uplifting messages? Please share Lightarted Living with them. If you or someone you love is interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the FREE Lightarted Living mailing list.

4 comments:

Christine Veloon said...

Thanks Susan, Feeling the burn(out) in my last 2 years of work, having recently lost the 2 OTs I work with. Training more people and tired of talking loud, especially by 4:00 in the afternoon. Laying low this weekend and recharging for next week. Doing some quilting and binge watching Steven Colbert recordings.

Jean | DelightfulRepast.com said...

Sue, I know this will be helpful to a lot of people. But I must already be awfully good at idling because I have no anger issues! :-)

Susan J Meyerott, M.S. said...

Chris! Good to hear from you. I bet you're tired. Good for you laying low to recharge. You've got to make it to retirement! Hugs.

Susan J Meyerott, M.S. said...

What a great life skill to put into practice, Jean! The more we idle the better our lives! We are such a responsible, driven people.