Say No To Burnout
Page Three
Certain world events are lasting in their impact. In the 1950s the world was gripped by the story of five young missionaries who were slaughtered on a lonely beach in Ecuador after an attempt to reach the Auca Indians for Christ. The pictures and story were on the covers of major magazines like Life. I heard firsthand details of their tragic deaths because relatives of one victim attended my church. The story of these missionaries' willing sacrifice for God deeply appealed to my own youthful idealism. As the years have passed, what happened back there had become an almost forgotten memory to me. Then not long ago, when I was going through some old books, I found two which I felt compelled to reread. One was written about the aviator of the Auca project, Nate Saint; the other was a biography of Jim Elliott. As I read, and the memories and feelings returned, the paradoxes also rose before me once more.
Here were five well-educated, sane young men, "wasted," some people would say, in an attempt to reach an illiterate tribe. Brilliance poured out on ignorance. Was this burnout or something different?
Before he went to Ecuador, Nate Saint went through a period of overwork after which he wrote a memorandum of lessons he had learned. One of the points, listed bluntly and simply, was that "overwork to excess is sin." He apparently did not believe in burning out as a principle of life. Yet none of the five men involved ever ignored the possibility that they might die, and death was not considered to be too high a price for reaching this tribe. They were willing to be poured out, yet not to burn out.
What Causes Burnout?
1. In everyday living alone there are many potential areas for burnout. There are too many classes to study for, too many business trips, too many demands from elderly parents and too many needs from children who have activities ranging from Boy Scouts to Little League and paper routes. Add to these family illness, financial demands, job problems, delinquent children, home repairs and so on. Any of these, when added to just paying the bills and keeping up the house, can completely absorb the time and energy of those who are responsible for them.
2. No matter how well we plan our everyday life, there are what I like to call "hits from Mars." We don't create them by bad choices; we can't avoid them; they just happen. They include the death of a spouse, the loss of a home or job, changes in finances, natural disasters, and chronic illness. Because we never know when something unexpected will "hit," it is good to have the safety net of avoiding living on the edge of burnout. As one wise man said to me: "Don't fill your schedule so full that you can't handle something as simple as a broken faucet."
 Don't fill your schedule so full that
you can't handle something as
simple as a broken faucet.
3. Many of us aspire to something beyond the demands of everyday life, which opens us up to even more potential for burnout. We may be involved in concerns like world hunger, evangelizing the unreached, presidential politics, AIDS, abortion and many other social issues—each of which has the potential for consuming the lion's share of our time. Hobbies, physical exercise and just plain fun can begin to seem impossible when added to all these other demands which the majority of us face.
4. Sometimes we feel that if what we are doing fits into a neat time schedule, then we are doing okay. In this way we deceive ourselves into thinking we can do it all. I accomplished my overload in college with the help of several delusions. I arranged my classes at the university for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I went to the seminary on Tuesday and Thursday. My job fit in between classes during what I called extra time. Church and dating were necessary recreation, I reasoned. However, the plan didn't work. At the root of my problems was the attitude that if it looked good on a written schedule, it would work.
One problem with my schedule was that it didn't allow enough time for rest. It counted activities like teaching children as recreation, when in actuality they were work. It didn't allow for traffic jams, bouts of flu, telephone calls, cooking, car repairs, extra academic assignments, favors for friends, or even just time to be.
5. Many people just can't say no. For others, an overly-busy schedule seems to indicate success or being needed. For them, burnout becomes a status symbol. For all these people, high-wire living relates, at least partially, to low self-esteem and problems with declaring boundaries, since secure people are more likely to be realistic about their capacities and are better able to draw the line. In this way, our basic view of ourselves, as well as other personal factors like a positive or negative childhood, genetic predispositions, and whether or not we have developed a sense of humor, will influence the ease with which we can set boundaries.
6. Trying to win acceptance and recognition is a common cause of burnout. A young woman who feels inadequate may say yes to every request for baking cakes at church and doing extra duties at school just because she wants the compliments which follow. A child who does not receive enough affirmation at home may overextend at school, trying to get top grades and participate in too many school activities just to be noticed and approved of. Too much overtime at work, or too many dinner parties, or too much of any number of otherwise good activities, can produce burnout just because we are trying to prove our adequacy.
Too much overtime at work, or too
many dinner parties, or too much of
any number of otherwise good activities
can produce burnout just because
we are trying to prove our adequacy.
7. Some view God as a stern "taskmaster," demanding an excess of activity. Such people feel that they are truly burning out for God. Paradoxically, rather than viewing God as a motivating force in burnout, we often need divine guidance to discern when to say no. It may also take some special divine strength to utter the word no.
Entering into this way of thinking is what psychologist Rollo May has called the Messiah Complex. Good people often feel that a need constitutes a call. If there is a legitimate need, they must meet it. Underneath this mentality is the idea that if I don't do it, nobody else will. But this reasoning is as likely to reflect childhood feelings of inferiority as to indicate God's will. Good people need to confront the needs around them by asking, "Is this a need I am meant to meet?"
 Continued on Page Four
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