Rescue from Without
Rescue from Without
Quick bit of news: I have a freebie short story on Amazon for Memorial Day, called Ghost Unit.
Available for free starting May 25 (today) through Memorial Day, (May 29) 2023. Share with your friends and family in person and social media! Last time I did a freebie (Love and Shotguns for Valentines Day), I had 19 downloads, so I’m trying to set a new record.)
Click the link: Ghost Unit
Or you can go to the Amazon main page and search “A. R. Mitchell Ghost Unit” (You’ll need the name and the author name, because other books and series come up before me. This has to do with Amazon’s ranking system and happens because other writers have more reviews than me.)
If you don’t have a Kindle, you can either download the free app to read it on your mobile device (smartphone or electronic tablet), or while signed into Amazon, click on your purchases and under digital purchases, you can see and read the short story by clicking on the manage content and devices button to the right, then you’ll be taken to a new screen where in the same place to the right of the purchases you’ll see a button that says, ‘More actions’ and then there will be a drop down menu that says ‘read now.’ (*I really must make a video of this.)
Hope you enjoy Ghost Unit. Please drop a review. If I get ten reviews Amazon will promote it. You can leave a review by going to your purchases, digital purchases and clicking the button that says ‘Leave a review’. Thanks!
Now… onto the monomyth!
Rescue from Without - guiding ourselves back to a normal when our journey took so much out of us that we’re struggling to return to normal
Please allow me the space to share about my first job.
Like most first jobs it sucked.
Unlike most first jobs it included a grand escape and a medical condition which has lasted multiple years.
I’ll relate these things to our topic, I promise.
A long time ago… when I was nineteen… (I’m in my 30s now)… I worked for an organization that had all the checkmarks of a cult. I was their media tech. It was a three month summer gig.
After a whole summer of watching the rules and expectations of my job change nearly hourly, my health concerns and chronic illness used against me, being told a whole host of dispicable life problems that I had because I wasn’t doing things properly, I got myself a case of migraine related PMS so bad that I decided I was leaving.
Migraines affect the brain and balance. PMS affects everything - but it gives you this amazing ever loving clarity to smell the roses which are actually cow patties and the brazeness to pick up the cow patty and chuck it at those who deserve it.
I packed up my stuff, told my boss I was leaving to her face three times, signed myself out and drove home. She remembered none of it… which snowballed into more drama which wasn’t mine.
That was a victory. (There’s more to the story, but that’s more details than I want to focus on right now.)
However, the aftermath of that victory - didn’t feel anything like a win. I felt physically horrible. My parents were furious. They told me since this was my first job it would follow me around for life. (It has, but not in a professional context.)
Had I been able to sit down with myself as older me to young me, I would be giving a lesson in burnout.
And that’s what ‘rescue from without’ is about. We’ve had the healing adventure, but we’ve been doing deep work on ourselves… and taking care of the past, doesn’t always mean watching what’s going on in the present.
So, what is Burnout?
“Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress.” )from: psychologytoday.com/us/basics/burnout)
Essentially its our bodies going, “I’ve had enough. Please do something about this because you are the one who’s supposed to be in charge!”
And then we get stuck because there’s a disconnect between thinking and doing. So start small, doing a kind thing for yourself that has nothing to do with looking at your past or present. You may not know what that kind thing you enjoy is because of all the other people’s stuff you’ve been carrying.
Also… naps do count.
Best book ever on Burnout:
“Burnout Secret Unlocking Stress Cycle” on Amazon
It took me two years to get back to normal from that three month job. Then at 29 I found myself back in a worse burnout cycle than I’d ever faced before. Why? I asked myself. And then I realized, I’d gotten better, picked up the same lifestyle choices of a healthy person who doesn’t know how to manage stress and just went on.
You have to manage stress. You have to learn how to cope with it in a healthy way. Emotions are part of it. Retraining takes time. I’ve been told by so many people now, “Healing is not linear.” You have to take the time to heal instead of swinging up on a horse with a Prince Charming typology and going to live in a castle… because if you don’t take care of your stress, it will follow you.
And the medical condition which followed me for years?
Abcesses in my big toe. Turns out I needed more minerals and less stress. My body was trying to detox and I had no clue. Three rounds of antibiotics from a typical western medicine doctor - no healing. One laugh from a naturalpathic doctor and a box of vitamins later - haven’t had an abcess in three years. This is your body on stress…. its not glitchy, its just telling you to pay attention that it needs something.
Perpetual Disclaimer for this series:
I am not a counselor or a mental health professional. I am going to attempt to avoid things which will cause alarm or harm, but I can't know what will trigger each individual. If you need to speak to a mental health professional please know that there are resources available.
Your stories are amazing!
Chronic Writer