Avoiding Burnout
I've spent the past few weeks reading and researching burnout in people who minister to others. While most of the research focused on ordained clergy, anyone in ministry, anyone whose livelihood puts them at the service of others, fit the criteria and the potential for living focused outside of themselves. After a while, that's what causes the deep tiredness that makes us wonder if we really want to continue or if we might be ready to throw in the towel.
One of the significant causes of burnout for people in helping professions is called "Vision Conflict." That's a really fancy phrase that simply means: what I see and desire is not what you see and desire. The result is tension and stress; the perpetual kind like the little pebble in your shoe.
Another cause is "Compassion Fatigue." Compassion fatigue happens when we keep helping others even when we are no longer able to help ourself. While it works for a while, maybe, sooner or later we become so empty we can't go on. When that happens we end up on the casualty list. What comes to my mind are the folks who tirelessly helped in the aftermath of 911, or of Katrina. Who then is there to help the helpers?
Next is the common predicament in a ministering person's life of trying to "go it alone" or similarly "just me and God." The problem of trying to work tirelessly or endlessly alone is that it's not the way we were made. In the opening of the Book of Genesis we have the seeds of what we know as the Trinity. There we find God, His Word, and His Breath working together... Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Even God experienced fellowship in His work and took a rest when His work was reasonably finished.
I wanted to offer a reminder and a caustion of these common potholes in the life of a caring person. They are an instant recipe for burnout, especially now. Less than a week from Thanksgiving, many of us have already heard the announcement: "Gentleman [and ladies] start your engines." Some of us will be tempted to not even take time to breathe until after January 1 -- we've done it before.
But let me encourage you this year to be kind to yourself. It's been a tough year for our country and our world. One in three of us know someone who's lost their job or their home. Almost 90 percent of us don't think next year will be any better for us financially than 2009. People who professionally care for others in any capacity are carrying a heavier burden because of the sheer number of people who are living on the edge.
While it is true, that with God anything is possible...we ned to remember we ain't Him. Be gentle with yourself. Schedule a walk, a bike ride, a swim. Choose meditation over the morning paper(or email). Stop each day and look into the eyes of a family member or someone you love. Say 'no' to that one more thing that you usually say 'yes' to. If you don't have a good support system, now's the time. Remember to breathe. Plan to stay off the casualty list this Chrsitmas season by caring for yourself.
I told the group who came to the workshop that I was uniquely qualified to teach "avoiding burnout" because I was likely the one closest to it! So I'll be following my own advice in the weeks ahead. It's an old learning, but let me remind you that God cares first about your being. Don't destory yourself in doing. Cherish yourself, my friend. God does.
BLESSINGS AND JOY, THE CELTIC MONK
One of the significant causes of burnout for people in helping professions is called "Vision Conflict." That's a really fancy phrase that simply means: what I see and desire is not what you see and desire. The result is tension and stress; the perpetual kind like the little pebble in your shoe.
Another cause is "Compassion Fatigue." Compassion fatigue happens when we keep helping others even when we are no longer able to help ourself. While it works for a while, maybe, sooner or later we become so empty we can't go on. When that happens we end up on the casualty list. What comes to my mind are the folks who tirelessly helped in the aftermath of 911, or of Katrina. Who then is there to help the helpers?
Next is the common predicament in a ministering person's life of trying to "go it alone" or similarly "just me and God." The problem of trying to work tirelessly or endlessly alone is that it's not the way we were made. In the opening of the Book of Genesis we have the seeds of what we know as the Trinity. There we find God, His Word, and His Breath working together... Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Even God experienced fellowship in His work and took a rest when His work was reasonably finished.
I wanted to offer a reminder and a caustion of these common potholes in the life of a caring person. They are an instant recipe for burnout, especially now. Less than a week from Thanksgiving, many of us have already heard the announcement: "Gentleman [and ladies] start your engines." Some of us will be tempted to not even take time to breathe until after January 1 -- we've done it before.
But let me encourage you this year to be kind to yourself. It's been a tough year for our country and our world. One in three of us know someone who's lost their job or their home. Almost 90 percent of us don't think next year will be any better for us financially than 2009. People who professionally care for others in any capacity are carrying a heavier burden because of the sheer number of people who are living on the edge.
While it is true, that with God anything is possible...we ned to remember we ain't Him. Be gentle with yourself. Schedule a walk, a bike ride, a swim. Choose meditation over the morning paper(or email). Stop each day and look into the eyes of a family member or someone you love. Say 'no' to that one more thing that you usually say 'yes' to. If you don't have a good support system, now's the time. Remember to breathe. Plan to stay off the casualty list this Chrsitmas season by caring for yourself.
I told the group who came to the workshop that I was uniquely qualified to teach "avoiding burnout" because I was likely the one closest to it! So I'll be following my own advice in the weeks ahead. It's an old learning, but let me remind you that God cares first about your being. Don't destory yourself in doing. Cherish yourself, my friend. God does.
BLESSINGS AND JOY, THE CELTIC MONK
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