The above picture is from a birthday card I made for a friend. In the text of the card, I was reflecting on the burnout we’d both felt over the past few years.
The weights on the mobile of life are all individually “good things,” but when they are out of balance, we get the feeling of “burnout.”
Some of these polarities:
- Mindfulness (present focus) — Mind-wandering, planning, reflection (past and future focus)
- Pursuing goals — Seeing what emerges spontaneously
- Growth — Rest
- Travel — Staying put
- Leisure — Work
- Service — Self-Reflection
- Gratitude — Grief
- Self-improvement — Self-compassion
- Solitude — Socializing
- Discipline — Fun
The other day, I was all dressed up and ready to go volunteer at a farm when I heard a small quiet voice within me say: “No.”
I unlaced my shoes and stayed home and read old notebooks, instead of going “out there” and volunteering. The voice was telling me: “Reflect, focus on yourself, you need this right now.”
I listened, and this felt really good.
This small, quiet voice gets the name “intuition” or “wisdom.” Wisdom is the master balancer of the weights on the life-mobile. Learning to heed the voice of wisdom is the work of a lifetime.
Thanks to Peter and Steve for conversations that led to this post.
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