burnout

Morning Bonus Read – Surge Capacities

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The prompt for this reading came from one of my Discord servers and is as follows:
“This week I read an article about how all of our “surge capacities” are depleted right now. So! That’s this week’s prompt: some self-diagnosis of our mental and emotional capacities at the moment.”

Bones Playing Cards Dust Edition by Brain Vessel

Am I in or approaching mental burnout?
Queen of Clubs

Not at the moment.  I’m going strong and confident in my path, no particular burdens holding me down or keeping me from fulfilling my potential concerning my passions or my business.

Am I in or approaching emotional burnout?
Five of Hearts

Absolutely. Don’t allow your pessimistic side to take charge and overpower the efforts you’re making toward optimism.  Over the past week or so, that’s something I’ve definitely done, and it’s time to catch what’s going on and get back on the right track before the pessimism drags me down and tries to bury me.

In what ways will I continue to need to operate on “surge capacity” because I don’t have an option?
Ten of Spades

With the holiday rush right around the corner and preparations underway, you’re going to begin to feel the strain of added pressure and crave  that ending that comes at the end of the holidays.  It’s a long way off yet, and you have a long way to go.  Be prepared to accept that if that craving starts showing up early, you’re going to have to push through regardless of feeling you’ve reached the end of your rope.

In what ways am I expecting too much from myself and I can back down?
Two of Diamonds

You don’t have to juggle as much as you are.  When things feel like too much, it’s time to let some of those extraneous activities and responsibilities falling to the wayside.  This includes these readings and other related activities if needed.  You can only juggle so much, and especially during the holiday season, your paying responsibilities have to take priority over everything else.

What is one thing I can do to build my mental and emotional reserves back up?
Three of Hearts and Jack of Diamonds

Take time to slow down and spend time with your loved ones.   It can be hard to slow down, but in doing so you are taking a bit of the strain off  your shoulders instead of leaving yourself in a constant state of pressure.

Also, remember that those that love you want to help, and they want to support you. Make sure that you’re asking them for help when you feel like you’re moving at a crawl.

DECK USED: BONES PLAYING CARDS DUST EDITION BY BRIAN VESSEL

Eminent Burnout

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes and fifty seconds, and focused on fostering curiosity by using the question “what is this?” during the practice.

The idea was to stay in the mindset of the questioning. To not seek answers, but instead to hold yourself in the experience of inquiry without an expectation of an answer.

Not surprisingly, I had a difficult time with this meditation. My mind is constantly seeking and constantly curious, but demands the reward of knowing that comes when you find the answer. To sit and stew in the curiosity all by his self with no drive to find answers was a place that was nearly impossible for me to hold myself in. I did try though.

I may actually return to this meditation again at a later date and try again.

Today’s draw is the Ten of Swords, which which is a representation of endings and the hope of new beginnings on the horizon in the area of thoughts, logic, reason, and communication.

Although the above is the “official” interpretation of the Ten of Swords, when I saw this card today it was read entirely by intuition.

My intuition says… burn out.

The swords in this man’s back in the image represent all of the “need to do’s” and “want to do’s” that can create a cacophony in the mind and end up overwhelming an individual. They all stick out of his back as he lays up on the ground, representing burn out at its peak.

What the card’s appearance today is telling me is that I need to slow down and pull a couple of those ‘blades out of my back’, so to speak. Not everything has to be done right now now now now now. I need to give myself permission to take my time, relax, and do things at an easier pace.

As you know, sometimes I get overwhelmed by the bombardment of my responsibilities combined with the drive of my creativity. I’ve been feeling this a bit just lately, and today’s card is an offer of guidance on how to deal with that and the impending burn out that it can create if ignored, as well as a reminder to cut myself a little slack.