Burnout or Balanced | Life in the Pink

Have you found that elusive life balance in your life? The space where you feel calm and composed, happy and content? The place where life is still full of childlike amazing wonders and experiences at your fingertips whilst concurrently you still keep up with your to do lists and responsibilities.

Or are you hovering on the steep cliff of burnout, constantly in survival mode and scared one wrong footstep will see you hurtling over the edge.

Or are you toing and froing between burnout and relaxation and never settling anywhere just in the middle, where the rollercoaster ride is taking its toll?

Life is definitely a challenging journey of peaks and troughs, so, us as humans need to learn how to surf life’s waves with dignity and poise, to ultimately bring to fruition the most comfortable life ensuring deep connections, new, wonderful fulfilling experiences, endless love, unbridled joy, feeling of all our emotions and a magnificently balanced existence.

Our predecessors

Living in the 40,50 or 60’s life was a lot less complicated, less technology, better employment rates, less shops, wives staying at home, shops closed earlier, kids played outside, less crime, natural foods, more outdoor exercise, less information and slower paced. This all made it easier for our ancestors to appear calm and balanced.

In 2016 it is busy, CHOICE CHOICE, junk food, social pressure, technology, fast paced, both parents working, saving less, spending more, keeping up appearances, longer work hours, social media, overload of information, gym junkies, drugs, gambling,, lower employment rate, lack job security, antidepressants, exposed to so much, multitasking, facebook, twitter instagram and a million others.

In our generation however, it may be faster paced and more stressful but we have also been granted the most amazing opportunities for travel, career, family, business, love and happiness, we are lucky and blessed to be able to experience everything that is currently available.

We really can have it all but we need to make sure it doesn’t come at a price.

Am I burnt out?

Do you feel dead inside?
Do you suffer general feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness?
Do you feel like you are not making a difference?
Do you feel like you have nothing left to give?
Have you lost your child like enthusiasm towards life?
Has life, or things in your life lost meaning?
Are you constantly physically and emotionally exhausted and drained?
Do you feel unappreciated and unimportant?
Have you lost the desire to socialise and have fun with life?
Do you find it hard to concentrate?
Do you feel disconnected and detached from life, friends and family?
Has depression or anxiety appeared in your life?
Do you have new, uncomfortable physical symptoms? EG chest pains, headaches

Awareness is the first step.

Don’t despair if you answered all these and are screaming Yes, Yes that’s me.

You now have the opportunity to learn, read, get help and move out of burnout to balance. You just need to take the first step.

Nothing stays the same forever, ride the waves, learn what this experience is trying to tell you.

Better your life for your future. Be a better role model to your family and friends.

Get better, get balanced and get the most amazing life on offer.

What next?

Slow down and breathe
Understand and learn about yourself, your symptoms and your personal stressors
Pay attention to everything about you don’t run away.
Understand stress can be good, we don’t want to eliminate it just manage and balance it.
Find your middle balance between not enough and too much.
Think about your perception towards events. What can you change, how can you think about it differently.
Stay away from people, places or situations that cause you drama, stress or chaos.
Allow enough YOU time to recharge and care for your inner world.
Think before you speak or yell, is it really worth it?
Learn to say NO THANKS.
Learn you don’t NEED to please everyone.
Stop the “What if’s”, they are a waste of precious time and energy.
Plan and do what you can then put it aside, know you have done everything and ask the universe to provide.
Watch your self talk, be your own best friend, tell yourself good things.
Build your support system and ask for help when you need it.
Write a to do list, get it out of your head and get to it when you are able to.
Move your body.
Nourish your body with good food.
Be like a child laugh and play.
Breathe, breathe, breathe.
Boost your self esteem, take care of yourself.
Be in the now, the present moment, the moment where you are living your life.

The choice

Having suffered burnout I know it’s a dreadful place to be, but like anything you don’t stay there forever. The amount of time you reside there will be dependent on the work you do the remove yourself from it..

If you constantly distract and use unhealthy habits to ignore your current state, it will remain longer, you will feel worse, you will spiral downwards.

Step up to your life, think about how truly amazing it is that you are here with this life to life. You have a choice everyday to make your life absolutely totally amazing or full of pain and despair.

Choice the wonder and the amazement that a child sees, it is available to you still. Go inside seek it out and don’t waste it.

Open the gift, with the big pink bow, you have been given of life and play with it to its fullest extent.

LIFE B (alance)

L – Look at the now

I – Identify the optimum potential and opportunities

F – Flush out the gaps

E -Establish a plan

B – Begin

The question

Ask yourself deeply:

If today you were on your death bed, what would you feel sad that you missed out on.

If today was my last day, I would be sad because I didn’t get to:

Have more European adventures around Italy (my heritage) and Paris
Spent time volunteering with the beautiful rescued elephants at the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand https://www.elephantnaturepark.org/
Visit Giraffe Manor in Nairobi Kenya https://www.thesafaricollection.com/properties/giraffe-manor/
Sit at an Ashram in India learning all about yoga and meditation
Own and love so many more dogs
Help and rescue dogs/animals
Have another true deep soulful loving relationship
Make a difference to more peoples lives
Spend more time in my inner world making my life more balanced
Live in a two story English townhouse

Write your list, plan your dreams, then make it happen. The washing and the ironing can wait. This is way more fun and so much more important to your spiritual growth and life experience.

Go and enjoy!

Pink love Lara and the two gorgeous fur children xx