Burnout to Breakthrough: Building Resilience to Refuel, Recharge, and Reclaim What Matters by Eileen McDargh
I have a bad habit of scanning through a book before I actually sit down to read it. Kind of a flip through the pages sort of thing, to see if there’s something that catches my eye. The thought that caught me this time was by Helen Keller, “No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.”
I’ve existed in an echo chamber of existence for the past seven months, isolated with children too young to understand why friends can’t come over, Grandma can’t come visit, and Daddy is working from home. As I break up yet another fight over who gets to hold the remote (not even what video to watch), I think of this quote and wonder… What if I applied that to our home during this season?
AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Burnout-Breakthrough-Building-Resilience-Recharge-ebook/dp/B082MRSVW1
With my husband quarantined in his upstairs office working, the kids settled in front of the 99th viewing of “Cars” (lightning McQueen in the fast lane), and a fresh cup of my favorite coffee, I settled in to actually read the book. I’m mesmerized by the literal description of life right now. Burnout is us. We’re overwhelmed by the realities of life. And McDargh offers solution based processes to work our way out of the “Burnout to Breakthrough” to something better. We can recharge and reclaim our energy! Is that amazing or what?
In page after page of nuanced stories, McDargh offers simple steps for recognizing, analyzing the problems, and then taking solution based steps that will help to rebuild our spirits. Not just spiritual answers, but actionable life building steps we can take to get back our energy and healthy relationships.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: https://twitter.com/macdarling?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Before I even realized my coffee was cold, I realized I was a RED-ANT. I’d allowed the past several months of isolation to take me places I hadn’t ever wanted to go, and now I was that person saying, “What bad thing can happen next?” I was actively seeking out the negative things that might happen, and inviting them into my life by opening the door to them. And that’s when I saw Helen’s quote for the second time. I want to be a discoverer of good things.
McDargh tells story after story of breakthroughs that happen to people who were burned-out, struggling with life because they had been operating in a state of burnout. Each of them found a breakthrough, a solution that refueled their positive ideas. By this point, I’d already grabbed a pen and paper and was taking notes. I had several ideas and suggestions, answers to questions McDargh had asked on the pages of her book that I could now apply to my life.
By the end of the book, I had sticky tabs and notes in the margins. I’ll be reviewing this book often over the next several weeks, maybe months, to help get my family back on track. And I’m seriously thinking about a group study like it recommends in the back of the book. I recommend this book, and I’ll be telling all my friends about it.
by Kendall Townsend, posted by Garth Thomas