What I’ve Learned — Week 34

This should be What I’ve Learned Week 3,000 or something. Instead, it’s a new edition on a topic that I have woefully neglected for quite some time. There are days, weeks, months, that you lose what you hold dearest to you. Mine are my words. I’m very thankful to my girlfriends who have supported me, who believe in me, and my words, and let me know that one day soon, they will be back.

As I dip my toes into the icy cold water, I thought I’d come here and write what I’ve learned over the past two months. I won’t be able to share everything, but I will let you know what’s really resonated with me and what is still resonating with me right this very minute.

What I’ve Learned

1. You can care too much. If I do something, I give it my all. I don’t stop and work until I am an exhausted mess. Caring is a good thing, but taking it to an extreme creates risk for severe burnout. Need an example? I threw out my water resistant phone cover so I wouldn’t take it into the shower anymore to make sure I was always on top of things. Hence my absence everywhere from my own burnout.

2. People who care will call you out on your BS. You know who are you. Thank you from the bottom of my soul.

3. Filling the well isn’t a metaphor. Your body is a well composed of the beautiful things that you put into it. Letting it run empty, and not taking the time to refill it, like I have, has ramifications. You sit, staring out a window, and you’re numb. There is no joy in the little things. I’m refilling my well a little bit everyday.

4. Vacations are essential. Vacations help fill your well and allow you time to breathe. I don’t care if you sit in your house and binge-watch Netflix, or travel the world. Take time to disconnect and just breathe.

5. Do something you enjoy. If you’re like me and have forgotten what you enjoy doing, make a list just for you of those things you used to do and see if you get a spark. I made my list and for some of them, there is no love lost. The others, I realize, I missed immensely. Find those things and make time to do them. While I understand you can’t do them every single day, don’t let a week pass where you haven’t done the thing you love.

That’s it for now. Those are the things I’ve learned and it’s only the tip of the iceberg. There’s more, but they are dark, deep and raw, so I have to keep those to myself for now. Thanks for still being here, friends.