It's Time to Recover . . .

It's just one of those days were she was feeling trapped and didn't think she had the energy to fight her way out. So, she didn't. She went with the mood. Susan always had these big dreams and big energy to go with it. She always took on a-lot or it seemed to take her on. And even though her responsibilities seemed overwhelming often times, she always had 'a plan' about how to 'get it done.'

In small ways she would 'get there' week after week but over time she came to believe that she wasn't moving forward at all. She quit talking about her 'plan,' she quit reminding everybody that 'we are going to get there.' Susan had begun to feel that she didn't know where there was anymore. And without clarity there are days that feel a little pointless and she was caught up in one of those days today. For these kinds of moments she kept a get away free card in the back of her mind.

"What if I just quit this whole thing?" she would whisper to herself. "I don't have to do this. I could make my life real easy real quick by just moving on." Susan worked in a non-profit trying to solve problems that seemed like they never had an end to it. There was always another child in the shelter. There was always another family falling apart. There was always another woman running and hiding to save her life. There was always more, more, more problems and she was getting tired of it.

"Why can't my money be like that," she thought, "more, more, more. I'm smart I can go do something else and make some real money and make donations instead. I could . . ." and she would run through her list of dream jobs and dream cities that she would move to and have that 'dream' life without all the problems. "What about Greece or simply New York," but when she planned out her dreams the people she was trying to help always creeped back into to her consciousness.

Susan often had these grandiose ideas about how to reward people who have careers in community service. With her plan, instead of burnout her team would have some fun, experience new things, refresh their minds and come back to serve more and more and more. She often wondered if it had to be so hard.

Susan also had ideas about how to prepare the people she served for the information age with creative businesses and ways to make money. She felt that if these women knew how to get what they needed financially then they wouldn't settle for their husbands' violence for so long; they would head for safety sooner because they know how to survive. A computer, the internet, and training is all they would need. When Susan thought this way it was more exciting than rehearsing her runaway plan, but the 'creative stuff' goes against the status quo. So how was she ever going to find help. Every time she mentioned her ideas, they were regarded as beautiful daydreams and not executable realities. When her 'real' work stretched her too far, all she could think of was her escape plan.

But Susan was sitting on a gold mine, all she needed was a little help.


Do you ever feel like Susan? Are you sometimes (often) overwhelmed with your reality, overwhelmed with your ideas and left with so little energy to try to turn your life into a new reality?

It's just a moment in time that requires rest from you. Take the day (or the days) and rest so that your mind can clear. With clarity solutions come, and when they come you will be able to see them and will know just what to do with them. Rest so that your creative dreams live, because inside you may be the ability to change a life or an entire industry, and the world cannot afford to have that die or burn out on the inside of you. We need new answers, we need you, and you need rest. It's time to recover and prepare for a new day. So go ahead, spend some time on you. It's more than OK. We will be here when you get back and you will be free and fresh and probably on fire. It's time to take the time to recover, regroup and redirect.

-MizJAI-