CREATING SMALL REVOLUTIONS OF JOY ONE DAY AT A TIME
When Hindsight Is More Than 20/20.
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Life is a long run. Make sure you prepare.
Hindsight is a superhero and provides incredible insight. There is another superpower hindsight possesses that sometimes is ignored. You may have heard the phrase, “Sharing is caring.” Passing down lessons learned from your hindsight is one of the most precious gifts we can give someone.
When I was in my early 40’s, I suffered a significant bout of burnout. From the outside looking in, I had it all under control. But due to years of neglect, I was slowly dying on the inside.
Starting in high school, I understood that I needed to become an achiever to realize my dreams. This achiever mentality helped me check off goals and follow my path of accomplishments.
Unfortunately, the achiever rule book did not include any chapters on slowing down or self-care. In my younger years, this didn’t phase me at all. I thrived on being busy and wore it like a medal of honor.
It didn’t help that I had also surrounded myself with other achievers and doers through college and dental school. I was a member of the club, and I felt like I belonged!
I didn’t have any role models showing me the value of self-care and taking time to slow down. And when the occasional balance guru would brush into my life, I would dismiss their ways as too ‘woo-woo’!
Annie Spratt
One of the ways I attempted to add self-care to my routine was running. Getting out on the trails was my outlet, and I would often enter an almost meditative state on my longer runs.
Running couldn’t always outpace my achievement mentality, however, and all of the miles and events eventually had a hand in my burnout.
Burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process that builds slowly. Because of this, most people don’t recognize it until intervention is long overdue.
For me, it began with body aches, headaches, and difficulty sleeping. All things I contributed to the physical demands of my job and…
