Skip to main content

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*

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

April 5, 2015

The Feast of Firstfruits & Easter Go for Broke Day If it scares you this is the day to go for it no matter what. One Day Without Shoes Day Today is to raise global awareness for children’s health and education.  Why shoes? Because shoes help protect from bacteria in the dirt, rusty nails, dirty needles and shoes enable feet to withstand the long distances most children in developing countries need to walk to get to school. Join TOMS One for One There is plenty of criticism out there for TOMS and its short term solutions. Critics don't even buy the "at least they are doing something" statement.  However, you have to start somewhere. And every bit of awareness helps something go from short term to long term.  We all have a part to play. Read a Road Map Day One of the many reasons I would stink at The Amazing Race is because I never did learn how to read a road map well.  I remember doing worksheets and class lessons on maps and I was able to skate by ...

Butter someone up

There are two probable origins for this idiom and I think both are equally plausible. The first one is that when you spread butter on bread you are buttering it up like one would do when trying to flatter someone. The second is in ancient India there was a practice of throwing balls of butter at statues to ask for favor, i.e. buttering them up. ( source ) When we use the phrase today we generally mean that extreme flattery is used to gain information or favor. It's not always necessarily a compliment. 

A dime a dozen

"It's said that in the year 1796, the first U.S. dimes were produced for circulation. Hence, it would make sense for this phrase to originate sometime after." Read more here .  Today the phrase carries the meaning that something is cheap or without value if it can be lumped in with other similar or exactly-like things. It's more of an insult than anything.