Are You Getting Ground Out by The Grind?

The grind is real. Life for many can be just one continual experience of being ground out by the daily grind.

Every now and then, someone sends me an email.

I read them all, and always my heart is touched. I send some prayers and ask God to help me write content that might be of help to this person.

You see, I know that whatever is written here by one probably represents 1000’s of others.

One such pain point can be summarised up in these words.

 ‘How do I keep going while I am doing intensive therapy.’

The Grind

Or it might be that the respondent is struggling in an unsupportive, even abusive relationship.

The answers reflect some very exhausted souls, limping from day to day, barely hanging on. I’ve met them, shared stories with them, and at times been in this swamp myself.

There are no ‘7 steps’ to getting out of it. Sorry, if you are switching off now, but some stepping stones might help.

First though some words.

Exhaustion

Exhaustion is a thin blanket tattered with bullet holes.
Matthew De Abaitua

There is that place when you feel you have given all you’ve got. Nothing left in the tank. Empty and sucked dry.

Struggle

Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light. John Milton

It’s like you’re wrestling with an invisible shape-shifting ghost. Memories power up your thoughts and feelings.

Echoes of the past clash with present reality. The slightest trigger sets you off into wild, chaotic dances with anxiety. It’s a form of life, but not as you want to know.

Despair

Despair is a spiritual condition. Despair is when you fall under the belief and conviction that tomorrow will simply be a repeat of today. Rob Bell The Cellular Exodus

You wonder if you will ever escape the grip of this struggle. Day follows day, and they both seem the same.

Burnout

Burnout is nature’s way of telling you, you’ve been going through the motions your soul has departed; you’re a zombie, a member of the walking dead, a sleepwalker. Sam Keen

Like a snuffed-out candle with a few wisps of rising grey vapor, you know that you’re done. Nothing left, life is gone. You’re in a ditch, semi-conscious, hoping for a Samaritan to wash your naked vulnerability.

Look, I’m not going to sugar coat it. Life, at times, is tough.

Please realize that

• Comparing your story with others doesn’t help.
• Cliche, band-aid bible verses, trotted out will only take you so far.

Perhaps in this series that I am venturing in on, we can discover some stepping stones in the swamp.

Stones that we can gain footing on and will stop us from being sucked down.

Perhaps what we can do, together, is to share ideas.

Stepping stones that have helped you may be needed for someone else, next door, or across the internet divide.

Quotes to consider

• Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability Sam Keen
• When you rest in the Father’s embrace, unexplainable peace fills the center of your soul. Larry Crabb
• Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. Helen Keller

Questions to answer

1. What are some stepping stones for you when you are ground out?
2. What grinds out your life?

Barry Pearman

Becoming Fire-Proof: Protecting Ourselves from Burnout

It’s Time For You to ‘Give it a Rest’

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