God has recently placed me back in a location where I once hit burnout. At times I feel a bit nervous about all the ‘what if’ possibilities that could happen…What if I do not make the best choices? What if I fall into the same trap? And what if, just what if, I burn out again? These ‘what if’ questions are real, and you may find similar questions come up for you also in your journey.

How can we continue running this race without the fear of the ‘what if’ questions becoming a reality? The fact of the matter is, the burnout was not the end of me, and it’s not the end of you. Burnout as heavy as it is in the duration of the season, comes to an end. It is in the season of recovering through the burnout that there are usually new ways of doing life found in the process.

Burnout in one perspective could be a gift, a gift which opens an opportunity to explore a life lived at a different pace that is filled with grace and rest. 

These ‘what if’ questions almost can give an invitation to answer them from a different perspective, of “what can I do differently?” If I choose to frame a situation differently it will assist me in how I can respond in a different manner.

I do know what caused my burnout. I do know how I need to pace myself. I have given myself the permission and grace to live differently. I know life is not a sprint but a marathon; needing to find the pace that God has given me, to run graciously knowing my race is not my brother’s or sister’s race.

The “what can I do differently?” question gives me the opportunity to be creative, to be insightful, to use the wisdom that God has gifted me to learn a new rhythm of living life.

Burnout, it’s not the end of you, it is a bump along the path to learn a better way of being you in the journey God has you on.