Overwhelmed
Some time last year Arnon told me that I reminded him of a dementor—one of those cold, soul-sucking creatures of darkness from the Harry Potter series. You’d think that I would be insulted by such a comment but I was actually flattered, though I can’t say why. Perhaps the simple amusement of the comparison distracted me from feeling anything else.
In any case, he didn’t say it to hurt my feelings or to suggest that I had been treating him badly. Rather, he was trying to point out that I have the tendency to withdraw into myself, giving off an unapproachable vibe that actually scared people.
Since then I have tried (when I remembered) to be more present and aware of others, but I must admit that in the last couple of months I have reverted back to being a complete monster. It’s not that I’m trying to be hostile; I just haven’t been making the effort to be pleasant.
The problem, as I see it, is that there is simply too much to do and too little time to recover, leaving me feeling overwhelmed. Like many other people experiencing the same thing, I’m burnt out.
I was thinking recently that life would be greatly improved if I could switch to a four 10-hour day work week. Monday through Thursday would be lost to work and commuting, Friday would be spent in regeneration (to borrow from Willie), Saturday would be dedicated to fun, and Sunday spent in preparation of a new week.
I was also thinking that I need to cut back on social commitments. It was so easy ten years ago to go dancing and drinking until the wee hours, get home in time for an hour or two of shut-eye, then get up and go to work. Now it’s hard to go to two barbeques in a single day, and that just involves lounging around with a drink in one hand and some charred meat in the other. Damn, I’m getting old.
Would anyone care to give me advice?
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