12 Comments
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Cathy Joseph's avatar

How wonderful that you found something that is working - and working so well for you. Thank you for sharing, Sandra!

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Sandra Pawula's avatar

Cathy, Thank you for your support and encouragement!

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Flavia Brunetti's avatar

“We need to baby our burnout, don’t we?”

How true. A really interesting dive, thank you Sandra!

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Sandra Pawula's avatar

Thanks so much, Flavia. It's great to connect with you.

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Charlotte Rains Dixon, MFA's avatar

You've been more than consistent with your posts here, you've been prolific! And we are all much the better for it. Kudos to you for doing this while staying balanced.

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Sandra Pawula's avatar

Charlotte, Thanks! I'm not balanced at the moment, but I'm trying to get there!!! I appreciate your support, Charlotte.

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Tahm Rhoy's avatar

A friend of mine who had a stroke asked me to cover the kayaks in his yard with tarps so the city wouldn't give him another $500 fine. I also picked up trash all over his property.

Even before he had the stroke, I think it looked like such a huge job to get things in order both inside and outside his house, that even taking the first step felt impossibly onerous. The emotional strains that turned him into a hoarder probably also made him feel it would be pointless to do anything about it.

He had felt persecuted by the city government, and I sensed a certain amount of uncomfortable surprise that just a couple of hours work protected him from the harassment of being forced to follow local ordinances.

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Sandra Pawula's avatar

Tahm, how kind of you! For some people, that kind of task seems impossible. I appreciate your sensitivity. I know I always feel surprised when I accomplish a task I put off. It often goes far easier than I imagined, so I can resonate with the surprise you sensed from him. Thanks for sharing this story. It's a beautiful reminder that helping can make such a big difference.

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Alexander Lovell, PhD's avatar

I chuckled when you mentioned being overwhelmed by the thought of creating a burnout recovery plan. It's like being told you need to organize your chaos, while simultaneously drowning in it! I can totally relate. Sometimes, the idea of adding "self-care" to the to-do list feels like just another chore. It's like, "Oh great, now I have to be stressed about relaxing!" But your honesty about it makes it all feel less daunting. It's a reminder that we're all just figuring this out as we go, and it's okay to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Maybe the first step in recovery is simply acknowledging the humor in the situation and giving ourselves permission to not be perfect at it.

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Sandra Pawula's avatar

Alex, You've got a great point here! Humor always helps me relax. Humor is a great perspective to bring to almost any situation and can be especially helpful when we feel overwhelmed. I feel reassured knowing I can start with one tiny step and then do more tiny steps. Maybe I'll never sit down and make a comprehensive plan. I appreciate your perspective. The author has ADHD, too, so she understands the dilemma of overwhelm. I believe she tried to style her book in a way that would make it more accessible to people with ADHD since it commonly occurs with Autism. Thanks for reminding us about humor! I appreciate your presence.

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Paolo Peralta's avatar

Not taking ourselves too seriously

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Sandra Pawula's avatar

Paolo, I like that phrase! It always helps.

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