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For Sunday, January 20: Burned up and out

Burnout: "A person being in a state of fatigue or disillusionment brought about by a dedication to a way of life which failed to bring the expected reward."  Freudenberger

Feeling burned up and out?  What do you think has led up to that?  I know what leads up to mine.  And I think oftentimes, much as I don't want to admit it, Freudenberger might be right.  Perhaps "type A's" can relate to this more than "type B's or C's".  When I extend myself on behalf of a project, a task, a person, a group, etc and the end result (expected reward?  maybe at times...) isn't good, desirable, meted out, etc then I do feel burned up and burned out.  What to do then?  No seriously.  What to do?  Lower expectations of course.  Examine motivations for doing whatever I was doing for whomever I was doing it in the first place.  And even though I do those things I still experience burn out and burn up from time to time.  It's when I think my "type A" personality becomes more of a curse than a blessing to people in my life.  Until burn out I'm generally viewed as a blessing but once burn out occurs I'm pretty sure I'm just an annoyance!  It's okay, I recognize that about myself so it's not like it's a newsflash!  And because I do recognize it about myself and because I want to be more of a blessing than an annoyance I am learning what I need to do and say so that my burn out doesn't negatively impact others.  Sometimes I succeed, other times I fail.  
What about you?  Is burned up and out something you experience?  Why?  Does Freudenberger's quote ring true in some ways in your life or or you scratching your head wondering what burn out is?  *grin*

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