Coming Back From Burnout

I returned from a hiatus today. I was away for about 8 or 10 days. Oh, I was still going to work each day and spending time at home. My body was there, but I was off somewhere else trying to recuperate from running hard and furiously at building a business for almost 7 1/2 months. Finally, a few days ago, my body rebelled and shut me down.

I ask for no sympathy. This is an American thing and people in other countries have learned how to work to live, rather than the other way around. I was chasing something maybe called success or euphemistically called the American Dream. But I had come to a screeching halt last week.

What does that feel like? One has no energy. Whatever it was that was driving me forward before had disappeared. One faces the usual tasks with little or no enthusiasm. It becomes a challenge to get through each day at work and get enough work done to justify one's presence there.

And it is also a time of sorting things out. What sorts of things? At this point in time, what is really important and necessary for me to be doing? Why am I choosing to do these things? Am I doing whatever it is I am doing for the right reasons or the wrong reasons? Are there additional compelling reasons I should or shouldn't be pursuing certain goals or getting involved in specific activities? Am I happy pursuing my current goals? .... and a thousand other possible questions. Finally, what should I be doing now, why and where should I be heading?

For me, it takes an act of will to get past these funky periods. When I have more or less sorted out the issues and decided how I am going to put in a fix, I am ready to move on. "If you know where you're going, You have already gone...."(Stephen Sondheim, Sunday in the Park With George.) I make a decision and I am back to the work, full of energy and focus. Like I said, for me, it is an act of will.

I am certainly not the only person to have gone through this sort of thing. It happens to thousands of people every day. When this happens, the situation is what it is. The only option is to sort out the issues, figure out how to fix things, fix things and move one. It sounds like a simple thing to do. But that is not always the case. So one has to dig deep down into one's soul and find the courage and grit to pull oneself out of the doldrums. If I can do it, anyone can.

So, I am back among the functional again. In a day when being dysfunctional is almost fashionable, I will choose to be among the odd ones out. Being functional and happy and productive, that is okay by me.

It feels great to be back near the top of my game.

Kindest regards,

Howard Fireman