Thursday 18 November 2010

Writer's Workshop: Why I'm burnt out

Why are you burnt out?

I am burnt out because I leave the house at 7am and get back through the door at 8pm.
I am burnt out because it takes me 2 hours to get to work and 2 hours to get home.
I am burnt out because I know where I've come from and I know where I'm going, but I'm not too sure what I'm supposed to be doing in the mean time.
I am burnt out because I have so many ideas in my brain that I'd love to come to fruition, and I feel like I'm supposed to be doing so much, but there aren't enough hours in the day.
I am burnt out because I put so much pressure on myself to be the perfect wife, friend, daughter, and yet I fall short every time!


I could list a million reasons why I'm burnt out, but in reality, I'm burnt out because I choose to let all these things get to me. I choose to sit under the feeling of being burnt out rather than rising above it and just getting on with things. Since when was my life so hard? I have a good job, an amazingly supportive husband who does his fair share, a nice flat in a great city in a civilised country. I don't currently have kids, I'm not a single working mum struggling to pay the bills or a dad who has to work far away from his family. I just have to worry about little me and my house and my family.


So the moaning stops here people! I might get tired, I might get frustrated, I might not be able to do all the things that I want to do and some of my plans might just have to be put on hold for now, but my situation is not bad. My pressures are merely the ones I put on myself.

On Sunday we had the Watoto Children's Choir visit our church to perform the Restore Tour presentation. These children were abducted from their villages by the LRA in Uganda, some as young as five, forced to become child soldiers, forced to witness the killings and mutilations of their families, forced to bear the offspring of their abductors. They were forced to walk hundreds of miles through the bush and jungle, looting, killing and maiming as they went, all the while never knowing whether they would escape their captors or die in the bush. And yet they did find rescue and along with it, hope for the future and forgiveness for their abusers. After going through their experiences at such a young age, you would forgive them for being a little tired, frustrated and angry at the world, maybe a little burnt out. Do they look burnt out to you?





I have no excuse.
 
Mama's Losin' It
Watoto - Restore Tour Trailer from Watoto on Vimeo.

2 comments:

  1. What a great reminder of how we SHOULD be living our lives. Thanks!

    Visiting from Mama Kat's

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  2. Thanks for the perspective. We don't really have a legitimate reason for feeling burnt out.

    I wrote about the same prompt, but without the upbeat tone. Yours is so much better.

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