This chapter starts by talking about going through the motions. A lot of people reach a stage in their life where they feel burnt out, or like they are going through the motions. Burkeman argues, however, that this does not have to be a bad thing. It means that you recognize you can do better with your life and that you want something greater for yourself. You are not waiting for a feeling of fulfillment to arrive at some point in the future.
The feeling of burn out is something that I am working very hard to escape from. I graduate next semester, and DEFINITELY am feeling the senioritis. After getting my bachelors, though, I am getting my masters and plan to get my doctorate. Since I am planning on continuing my education for quite a while longer, burn out is not really an option. I definitely faced this feeling when I first started college. I got about a year in, and then just started to feel very overwhelmed and tired of school. I took a gap semester and it was the best thing I could have done! The time to reflect helped me realize I want to change my major and pursue psychology, and with that, I fell in love with the field of behavior analysis. To try and prevent burnout while continuing school, I think it is important to give myself grace. If I need to take a gap semester in between getting my masters and doctorate, I will do just that. While getting my degrees, I also need to be working towards getting my field hours. Some people are able to juggle getting all of their field hours while in school, but some people take a little while longer after they graduate to finish accruing their hours. I plan on being someone that takes a little while longer than the two years to get all of my hours. I still plan on working, but I am also wanting to prevent feelings of burnout by not overloading myself.
I have been very fortunate to have amazing bosses while working as an RBT. They always work with me on scheduling to ensure that I do not feel too overwhelmed, and if I ever need to cut back on hours, they are sure to help me figure it out. Moving forward, I will definitely look for bosses like this. Staying in this field is very important to me; however, it is not an easy one. It is tough to work with children with autism. To make sure I am able to be my best for them, I need to prioritize doing things I enjoy while continuing my education and working in the field. I have found that exercising and taking the dogs on walks has been very relaxing for me. I also always try to prioritize for friends and family. Just making the time to do things that make me happy and spend time with people that I love has helped a lot. A common theme throughout this course was the importance of relationships, and I could not agree more!
Another important theme of this chapter was Cosmic Insignificance Therapy. This section discusses how some people believe that we have a cosmically significant purpose in life and the universe is just waiting for us to uncover and fulfill that purpose. Even if this were the case, the world carries on no matter what we do in our individual lives. This doesn’t mean that our actions can’t affect someone else. Instead, it means that the world is going to keep spinning regardless. Yes, our actions can’t affect other people. But we really should focus more on how our actions affect ourselves. Coming to this realization can feel like putting down a heavy burden that a lot of people didn’t realize they were carrying.
 |
| Here is one of my dogs, Jax!! |
 |
| The other two dogs: Princeton and Paisley!! |
 |
| My two best friends in the whole world |
Now, there is a fine line. When saying that “we should focus on how our actions affect ourselves,” I do not mean to fall into an egocentricity bias. This is feeling like the world revolves around you. We have to find the middle ground between caring for other people and being empathetic and choosing to live for ourselves. We should do what makes US happy and pursue things that make us feel fulfilled instead of trying to live a life by someone else’s definition of “fulfilled.”
I think a good example of this balance is considering parental expectations. Yes, our parents probably set ground rules and expectations, but they also had to tow a fine line. They set an example for us to follow, but at the end of the day, we are still responsible for our own decisions. I know some parents who fully planned out their children's lives. They told their kids that they were going to be a doctor or a lawyer. The kid follows along because they trust that their parents want what is best for them, but by the time they finish med school, they realize they don’t even want to be a doctor. Another example could be parents who force their children to play sports. The kid might not even like the sport, but they do it because they are trying to fulfill outside expectations from their parents. This can lead to a very empty filling life. Instead, we need to do what makes us feel happy and fulfilled.
So yes, be a good person. Help others. Be empathetic towards your neighbor. But at the end of the day, we need to do what makes us happy. Do not try and fit into someone else’s definition of a
“good life.” Only you are able to decide what truly makes you happy and feel like you lived a life worth living. It doesn’t matter if it isn’t a life that someone else would want to live, as long as it is a life that YOU are satisfied with living.
No comments:
Post a Comment