When Stephen looked in the mirror, he stared at the grim face of burnout. He had been a social worker for over twenty years and had gravitated into the gut-wrenching realm of child and elder abuse. His days (and some emergency nights) drew deeply on his empathy, compassion and listening skills in trying to heal the bewildered and traumatized victims who sought his help. They just seemed to keep coming with no lessening of the flow, in fact just the opposite. People’s inhumanity appeared to have no bounds.
Overburdened, tired and frustrated, Stephen’s refuge became his weekly choir practices at the church. Singing his heart out (where fellow choristers demanded nothing else of him) was a visit to an island of sanctuary albeit one not nearly long enough to re-charge him fully for a return to daily battle.
One evening, during choir coffee break, Stephen happened into conversation with someone who looked as careworn as he felt. It turned out that Rob had a seat on Wall Street, a high profile and demanding job at the opposite end of the continuum from Stephen’s. As they talked, Rob expounded on his frustration and his disenchantment with the cold, unscrupulous and soul-sucking world of finance. Fortunes and lives were destroyed daily in the nanosecond of a cyber transaction and no one noticed or cared.
Worst of all, Rob felt trapped by his financial and family obligations that chained him to the job as effectively as iron links. Wistfully he said, “I envy you for your job in social work. You make a real and positive difference for people.”
Stephen was taken aback. As he absorbed what Rob had said, it rekindled gratefulness for his chosen path and he felt again that core strength that he gave so freely to others in need. When he told me this story, he had gone on to many more years of social work with a renewed sense of his purpose and the accompanying sense of inner joy.
It’s easy to lose sight of your purpose when you’re tired and frustrated and drifting into the burnout zone. At the Coaching Lens, we believe in the importance of defining and staying in touch with your core values and your inner purpose. If you’re struggling and don’t know why, contact us for a free consultation to find out if professional coaching can help you to find the answer.