Pushing past your limits

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In the rush of modern life coupled with epidemics like Covid 19, we tend to lose touch with peace that is available in each moment. In a few months ago, something unusual began to happen to me. I desired only to lie on the couch and do nothing. It seemed as though nothing brought me joy. I found myself increasingly fatigued and irritated, unable to perform basic work-related tasks. My relationships began to suffer. The best way I can explain the feeling of going through my day it felt like I was moving through molasses. 

After speaking with a few friends, I realized I was suffering from burnout and I was not alone. A Burnout is what happens when you go flat out under constant stress for a long time, succumbing to pressure to do more, more…more. You push yourself past your limits, not just once in a while but all the time. You convince yourself you’re fine. This is just temporary. In fact, up to 70% of adults have symptoms of burnout, its typically characterized by exhaustion, cynicism (like hating your job) and feelings of reduced professional ability. 

To combat my symptoms, I took time off to pick up some physicial, spiritual and healthier habits, I stopped taking breathing for granted but as a gift that l am alive.

Every morning when l wake up, l realized l have twenty-four hours to live. What a precious gift, we have the capacity to live in a way that these twenty-four hours will bring peace, joy and happiness to us and those around us.

Being grateful for the peace from God, and knowing it is present right here and now in ourselves and in everything we do and see. Christ gave it to us freely it’s our duty to access it and enjoy it.

The fact that you can smile, breathe, walk, exercise and eat well, is enough for you to live a great life. We tend to be so good at preparing how to live, but not very good at living.

We know how to sacrifice three years for a course and we are willing to work so hard to get a job, car, house, wife, children, etc but we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive. Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity. Of course happiness is possible only in the present moment.

Planning for the future is part of life but even planning can only take place in the present. I have purposed to live and be intentional on how l perfom both Physically and mentally.

Another habit l took on is changing how to process information. I realized it was common for two people who receive the same external stimulus, to react differently one with increased levels of stress and the other with increased performance. And so, I set out on a journey to find what caused these differences in thought process. To be continued….