Be aware of overload!

There are different kinds of people in the world. There are some (few) who are able to work 80 hours a week and they stay energetic and in good moods. And there are others who don't have the same level of energy, and maybe even a different psychological structure.

You need to be one of those who are not emotional affected when something goes wrong to keep up with your energies and not get burnt out. Sure, you pay it with something else, for instance with a lack of time with your family, you might even not be able to create a family, if you are constantly immersed in your work. And it is your choice. If it is fine for you, why not? Why not spend the life working on something which is meaningful for you - and hopefully your meaning is not just having MONEY, but something valuable you can do with your money for the benefit of a larger group, your family, your country, the world.

And there is another group of humans - traditionally believed as only women, but it is not really true: the sensitive creatures whose emotions get aroused with almost everything which happens in their lives, if good or bad. Emotions are forces which MOVE us humans. And while being moved the focus necessarily cannot stay fully on what you have planned to do and what you are working on. Life means continual change, continuous movement.

The Gurus say you need to stay focused on one thing and don't stop before you reach it, no matter what you meet on your way. This certainly works for the first type of people I have described above, but it is disastrous for the second type, the sensitive types, people who are sensitive, if they know it or not.

Most of the second type people realize their sensitivity only in the moment of breakdown and burnout. They believe to be able to go on as idealistically described. They try it, get some good results, insist to get on the same way and don't realize that their system could cope with a short term weight of working hours, information overload and ignored feelings. But this type of people just cannot do this unless they are willing to pay the high prize of burnout, breakdown, illness and premature death.

What is the way out?

In my opinion we need to learn our own reality as the human being that we are. We need to REALLY get to know ourselves, recognize the signs of overload - and do something to take the over-weight from us. It is not easy to step out of old habitss and old ideas of what and how we should be. But becoming ourselves, really, on a very deep basis, is the only remedy. That means: explore and recognize what our drivers are (often they are the expectations of somebody else, not our own), find out what deeper values we have for our life - which won't last eternally. Recognize the finiteness of our time and resources and make very good choices with what we spend our precious time.

Many more to say here, please tell me your take on it. I guess, for me this was a way to tell you the reason why I don't engage so often here anymore, why my rank came down from 28 to 114 today and why it will fall even further down. I love engaging with others, it is nice when replies to your posts and comments arrive - but at the end of the day I was not really able to make deep connections which would justify hours a day sorting through my emails. I had come to a point of felt overload and I had to decide where to focus on. I am one of these people who respond emotionally to every little thing which costs a lot of energy - and the project and goals of my life really need my emotional energy more than my email inbox.

Please understand me right. My decision to stay away from engaging here in WA has nothing to do with you, especially if you are a friend with whom I conversed a lot. It is just a "security measurement" for not hitting the burnout point. And I recommend to all of you who have read so far: Check yourself how far your overload has gone and what you need to cross out of the list for staying well and healthy! It might be WA, Facebook or whatever sucks you into a seemingly interesting world and eats up your energy.

I wish you a good life

Heidi