Photo by Ian Taylor on Unsplash
This week, I’m doing a speech around how to keep focus on the positives at my local Toastmasters club.
I chose this speech because it seemed a pretty relatable topic. If you’ve been following my writing, you are probably aware by now that I’ve been facing a fairly substantive burnout period. So it’s been particularly important to keep the positives in mind.
When our life routine gets thrown up in such a huge way, it can be hard to not fall into a sense of despair. I’ve questioned myself a lot. Sometimes I’ve felt guilty for taking time for myself. Other times, I’ve wondered whether I’ll ever recover again.
These are legitimate questions, and is a key part of the process. Nonetheless, solely focusing on them only leads to a downward spiral of anguish. Our brains tendency to think negatively is much stronger than its ability to look at the positives. It’s part of our survival mechanism, and it was necessary to keep ourselves alive during our evolution. So it is up to us to set a better balance.
The beauty is that every situation can have a positive if we choose to see it. For example, my fatigue has given me a chance to rest my body in a way that I’ve not really done for over a decade. I’m breaking out of the pattern of always needing to have a plan of what I am doing, instead allowing time to simply be in flow with life.
I believe that this burnout period happened for a reason, and I would not have faced it if I wasn’t able or ready to. The situation has pushed me to look into understanding my own brain, and in particular my neurodivergence.
Despite reading about psychology extensively in the last five years, I had little idea that my brain functioning was so atypical. It’s only when I started looking more into autistic burnout symptoms and reading further into it that I had any clue to better understanding myself.
This revelation has put so many things in my life in context: such as understanding why my reaction to things are so different to the people around me, and why I found it so tricky to make friends throughout my life.
This period is a relatively short time in the wider span of my life. So I know that taking the time now is not making me ‘miss out’ on anything. On the contrary, I think it sets me up for a far more joyous and expansive life for the coming decades.
The best thing I can do for myself is enjoying the moment I have now, as well as appreciate the things I do have. I’m very grateful that I have the space and support systems to allow me to recover. I also appreciate myself for having constructed my life in a way that allows me to have these things too.
When I hone in on this space of gratitude, my life feels lighter and easier. I can feel the anxiety and stress lifting. Life becomes just that little bit sweeter.