Don’t Ignore Burnout: It’s a Message From the Universe

Have you ever found yourself collapsing from exhaustion? Perhaps you didn’t know it was happening until your body broke down.

I didn’t.

Because of my sleep disorder, I struggle to follow a schedule and anticipate how many hours I’ll even be awake. This has caused a lot of frustrating and awkward periods of burnout. But before I had my diagnosis, being tired all the time wasn’t something I could mentally register.

I see this happening to a lot of people. They keep pushing and pushing until their body gives out.

The Universe Won’t Let You Live a Lie

I’m going to let you in on a secret: burnout is how your body protects itself from going in the wrong direction. One thing I’ve noticed about my own burnouts is that the road to my pinnacle of exhaustion was full of signs I ignored.

Instead of listening to the messages the universe sent my way, like that nagging feeling in my chest telling me I’m doing the wrong thing, I kept pushing to manifest something that wasn’t right for me.

Like trying to follow an hourly schedule.

Because of my Non-24, I live on an irregular circadian rhythm. But I forget that when I have a false ideal in my mind. Eventually, the sleep deprivation adds up and then I just break down.

Each time something like this happens it’s a rude awakening that I’ve made some glaring error in how I lived my life.

Burnout only happens when you aren’t living in a way that’s true to you.

Look for the Signs

I’ve gotten really good at avoiding burnout over the last six months. Part of this is in knowing my diagnosis, but the rest is spiritual: I use my intuition to know when I’m pushing myself too far.

Too often, people disregard their intuition and focus on logical advice. But the problem with this is that logical advice is robotic and rarely considers the needs of the individual.

Time blocking can be an amazing tool to increase your productivity. But if I used it as recommended, I would become physically ill because of the accumulation of sleep debt.

Instead, I trust my intuition when something logical seems to no longer fit. Then I try something different or start experimenting. The way I manage my time would give a Type A person a stroke. However, it works for me.

The first sign you should always look for in life is your intuition. Yes, consider what’s logical, but if there’s a disconnect there, trust your gut.

Some people don’t want to connect their intuition to spirituality, but I think it’s necessary. Whatever your religious beliefs, we all have a higher power. This can be theistic or atheistic.

In the contemporary world, most people have a material higher power. That can be the law, science, or even culture. Know this though: it will fail you at an individual level.

The material world can’t connect with our essence, the part of ourselves which is more than just blood and bone. You need something that taps into the greater unconscious. And that pathway is your intuition.

Using Your Intuition Effectively

There are many ways you can use your intuition. This can include traditionally psychic elements like tarot, but everyone can tap into the unknown and translate messages for use in their everyday life.

Perhaps the most beneficial way you can use this right now is to manage your energy. This will help you to identify burnout before it happens and direct yourself back to your soul mission.

Try this simple exercise: open two images on your computer. One should be a picture that makes you happy and one should be a picture that makes you mildly uncomfortable (such as a spider). You will then say, out loud, that you will look at the picture that makes you happy. But then, instead of doing that, look at the picture that upsets you.

You should feel unease as you do this. It’s your intuition at work. Such an exercise can be replicated and modified as needed to fit your desires, but it helps you to identify your intuition and even train your recognition of it.

Some of you will only need to do this exercise a few times while others will want to do this over a few days. Regardless, once you have a clear sense of your intuition, you can then take time throughout your day to mentally ask yourself “am I going in a direction that my intuition is happy with?”

If yes, then you shouldn’t feel any pushback. But if you do, that’s a sign from the universe, even if you’re not fully aware of all the facts and details, that something needs to change.

So I’m calling on all my readers now: do you know how to identify your intuition at work in your life? If not, try my exercise and see how often your intuition makes itself known as you go about your day.

Trust your gut instinct: the universe is talking to you. It’s time to listen.

Did you like this? Let me know! And don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter to receive e-mails when new articles and tarot pick a cards are published. If you really liked this article, you can also tip me on Ko-fi.