Recently, I heard someone talking about how working is a luxury, especially if you’re burned out. They were going on and on about the necessity for rest, complete rest… I was tempted to reply, but wasn’t in the mood for a fight.
I’ve been mulling over this and here is the reality.
For so many people, rest, especially complete rest is a luxury.
I know that I have been told I need to rest. I need to do nothing for a while, a long while, in order to recover from burn out. But here’s my reality. I can’t.
If I stop working completely, then I won’t have enough money coming in to pay the rent, bills, buy food, and everything else that I need to pay for in order to life. If I don’t work, then I’ll be homeless.
I want to rest, and know that I need to, but I also need to pay the bills. I don’t have a partner or anyone else who can earn money to pay for things. I have provided that role for my kids, giving them the opportunity to rest when they needed it. I paid the bills, cooked their meals, and did everything else so they could rest… but there is no one to do that for me.
The thing that I am discovering is there is next to no support for burn out recovery, especially financial… any social security payments are not enough to cover the basics.
This is not an ableist attitude, this is a realistic one… this is the result of an ableist society.
I would dearly love to rest, to give my body the time it needs to recover from burn out. The reality is that if I do that, I will end up homeless, and that won’t help with burn out at all!
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