Why do I feel burnt out?
Would you say that you have any reserves in your tank? Or are you just coasting from one weekend to the next? Feeling ‘burnt out’ is pretty much the norm. How can we extend the relief that we find in play/rest/downtime?
As we head toward autumn, it’s a great time to look back over the past few months as a way to be mindful of the transition. The other day, my wife and I were reflecting on our summer. As always, it feels as if the entire year blew by, but this year even more than others.
Despite our 2021 year feeling significantly busier, we were noticing that we hadn’t taken the time to do many of the things we love. We neglected our play time. We never got the kayaks out. We didn’t make it to an amusement park we usually enjoy. We didn’t even have any bonfires, when we normally have many and host friends. We were asking ourselves and each other: what happened? How did the entire summer get away from us? And why do we feel so burnt out?
When we look at our lives, we also have to look at the collective. We do not live in isolation (even if we try) but we pick up on the energy and emotions of those around us. In my own personal life, I was not particularly under any extra stress compared to last year. But globally, we are consistently in the midst of many crises. The world is broken. Everyone is on edge and we absorb this through media. Every little interaction we have each day is just a little more draining than it used to be. And when we’re not intentional about filling ourselves up spiritually, it doesn’t take much for us to feel burnt out. We’ve just got nothing in the tank.
Think of it this way: filling up the gas tank in your car simply costs more nowadays than it used to. It’s the exact same thing spiritually.
If gas only cost $2 a gallon, the energy you put in (money) goes a lot further. But when it costs $5 a gallon, you might need to be a little more discerning about how you spend your fuel and where you choose to drive.
If our world was NOT in complete chaos, your energy would remain intact a little easier. But when most aspects of our lives feel draining rather than nourishing, we’ve got to be more wise about where and how we invest our free time.
But the unfortunate fact is: even if we HAD done all of the fun things we wanted to do, they only offer us momentary relief.
Because we weren’t physically or even emotionally burnt out. We were SPIRITUALLY burnt out. As C.S. Lewis said, “You don’t have a soul. You ARE a soul. You have a body.”
What an easy fact to overlook, especially if you’re not particularly interested in or connected to spirituality. We should have known better. We formed bad habits of “rest” that were actually just various forms of ‘checking out.’ We hadn’t been intentional about finding SOUL rest and it caught up to us. We missed out on resting in God. Using our Sabbath day for worship and spiritual nourishment. Simple quiet time enjoying and being refreshed through God’s creation. Seeking to hear from God about how exactly he wants to refuel us. We just weren’t listening.
True spiritual refreshment never actually comes through our effort or activity. That’s why you can practice all of the self-care, all of the therapy or nature time that you want and still feel burnt out. You can feel burnt out WHILE you’re trying to seek rest. You can feel burnt out right after a beautiful vacation.
Soul rest only comes through resting in our Creator.
John Eldredge covers this entire concept beautifully in his podcast “Depleted Reserves.” Have a listen as he checks in on our depleted reserve tanks and discusses what to do about it.
