I didn't even know burnout was real. I actually thought it was something made up by some company to sell supplements.
But there I was, burned out body, mind, and spirit. More specifically, I was on disability from being a paramedic due to a back injury, experiencing adrenal fatigue (yes, it's really a thing…who knew?), questioning everything about my life, with just enough energy to watch Oprah and possibly shower…once…a week.
I essentially had woken up in the wrong life and needed to find my way to the "right" one…or at least one that fit me better.
That meant retiring from emergency services after 10 years, divorcing my then husband, moving out of my house, losing a good part of my community…and slowly, but surely "healing."
As I talk with women who are grappling with life post covid, I can see parts of myself in their stories. They are tired, or even exhausted. They are overwhelmed. They have a sense that things aren't quite as they could be and that they aren't sure what to do…I call this dissonance. Is this you?
20 years after that moment, I'm doing work that I love, I am friends with my the aforementioned now ex-husband and loving watching him live his best life, I am married to the best man EVAR, and have rebuilt my community, which includes many from those days long ago. Life is good and I'm stoked