The Tired Call

Your feeling of burnout is trying to tell you something.

“When you feel that tiredness, it’s a call for something else.”

— David Whyte

Have you felt the tired call?

You wake exhausted. You feel the weight of life’s demands. It all feels too damn hard.

Try not to get so down on yourself. This feeling is not some pain for you to wallow in endlessly. It’s a wake-up call. Actually, it’s a “tired call”.

It’s a gentle nudge from within trying to tell you something.

Something is beginning to stir inside of you. An opening is forming like the cracking of an acorn, which starts to sprout the humble beginnings of a beautiful oak tree.

Open up a dialogue with that inner wisdom.

“How did I end up here?” you wonder.

“Isn’t this the path I chose?”

Heartbreaking, isn’t it?

The realisation slaps you across the face:

The source of all your current dilemmas is staring at you when you look in the mirror.

Yep.

“You got us here.”

But it’s not so bad, as you have agency on your life’s direction:

“You can get us out of here.”

You don’t have to accept this current form of drudgery.

You have the power to change. There is no law of physics keeping you stuck where you are. In fact, change is the norm.

So, it might be worth unpacking this question:

What are the invisible forces I am creating that are keeping me stuck?

Once you have some answers, then you can get to work.

Burnout means it’s time for a change. The way you have been operating isn’t working for you.

I’ll leave you with another quote from David Whyte:

“The antidote to exhaustion is not necessarily rest.

It’s wholeheartedness.”

Reflection:

• What are the invisible forces you are creating that are keeping you stuck?

• How can you start to move beyond them?

• What activities, people or places bring you a feeling of wholeheartedness?

• How can you start to incorporate more of them into your days?