Could Burnout Be Your Next Big Idea Calling?
So here’s a strange thing.
All of the sudden, this weekend, I started redecorating and cleaning our house.
Obsessively.
And I wasn’t writing as much.
It’s as if a switch went off.
I had been on a roll, posting blog articles on the unexpected benefits of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
But suddenly, it was time for a break.
My energy shifted.
Burnout or Breakthrough?
Does this ever happen to you? You’re in flow, happy as can be, and suddenly it feels like you are going uphill, pedaling hard instead of coasting. It’s as if things come to a stop and we start to struggle, suddenly working hard to make things happen instead of letting them happen through us.
I used to see this energy shift as feedback that I needed to pedal harder (and sometimes it is). Other times, I used to think it meant I was on a fast course to burnout and needed to take a break.
After what I experienced this weekend, now I feel like it’s often more than that.
When we feel our energy shift, sometimes I think it’s just a sign that something new is trying to get through.
If we keep pushing too hard in the direction we thought we were going, a new creation, idea, inspiration or insight might never come into form.
And that would be a bummer.
What Creativity Really Looks Like
I don’t know about you, but when I am ignoring an inner call, I’m more apt to blame things “out there” for my troubles, oblivious to new opportunities knocking.
I’m also more likely to get frustrated or down and out about simple stuff.
Being in flow means noticing when a larger energy is calling us to change things up, and being willing to follow that energy even if we risk looking stupid or clueless to those who don’t understand.
It Wasn’t About the Baseboards
As I was scrubbing and picking up dust kitties, I got several new ideas about our home, some other creative projects including an idea for a blog series on new beginnings.
No, they weren’t earth-shattering or save-the-world ideas. But just thinking about them as I scrubbed and cleaned made me happy.
My energy shifted and as a result, when I returned to my computer this morning and began again, I was in a very different place.
Breaks like these don’t take our troubles away.
They don’t provide answers about things beyond our control.
But they can provide just the break we need to shift gears and notice where our lives want to take us next.
Today is a Good Day to Start Again
Is your energy calling you to do something new?
Fresh starts can take many forms like:
CLEANING OUT ~ We can feel called to suddenly take care of areas of our lives we have neglected, decluttering, clearing the energy, picking up the pieces, taking care of the small stuff, clearing our vision.
A DO-OVER ~ Maybe we’ve taken a break from something we had previously committed to like an exercise program, a diet, the flow challenge, a promise, an intention in our relationships or as parents, a spiritual practice, or a general attitude in life, and something is calling us to try again.
A STRETCH ~ We might feel called to do something brand new, maybe something we’ve always wanted to try but have never had the courage or the time. This type of new beginning can happen when an opportunity falls in our lap, we get a new idea, or feel compelled to start a new business venture, hobby or class.
New beginnings are almost always messy. The key, I think, is learning how to be compassionate with ourselves during the re-start process.
Are you feeling called to make your own fresh start? I’d love to hear about it! Feel free to email me or post a comment below.
What’s New?
In addition to my decluttering and clean-out, here’s what else is new with me:
New LifeHack.org article
I’ve had a new article published on the website www.LifeHack.org. This one’s on Creating New Intentions.
What’s In a Name?
I was recently talking to a friend about the 28-Day Flow Challenge. What happens when we make up our minds to do something, like the 28-Day Flow Challenge and we fall off the wagon, or don’t do it as well as we’d like? Would we feel differently about the flow challenge if we called it a Flow Journey or Flow Adventure?
It’s an interesting question–how affected are we by the words we use and what we tell ourselves about our own stops and starts?
Activation MeditationsTM
In addition to cleaning house, I’ve also been getting back into doing my guided meditations, which incorporate principles from NLP, hypnosis and energy work to help us manifest deep change. I’ve posted one on Self-Compassion and Empathy and one on Creating a New Intention on a new section of my website titled Free Stuff.
PaddleBoard Exercise Class
A new beginning in my own life is that I signed up with a friend for an exercise class that takes place on top of a paddleboard! For me, this one falls in the category of a STRETCH.
As soon as she asked, something inside me said, YES! Yesterday was the first morning, and I loved it. The bay was windy, foggy, a bit chilly and the class was so much fun.
Wishing you a week of joy and creativity, and bursts of positive energy for your own new beginnings.
Photo credit: Shutterstock/Tania Kolinko
