Blogger Challenge: Day 20

Day 20: Get real. Share something you're struggling with right now.


I have been on hiatus from writing for a while. It's crazy how life ebbs and flows. How one second it's relatively uneventful, and the next minute it's bursting with busyness. When I last took to my blog, I read the topic for this entry. I laughed out loud musing, "I am not struggling with anything right now." 

The irony is that I have been struggling with something all along. I just did not realize it. In past years, my struggles were often associated with boys or friendships. My safe haven was work. I was good at it and I could channel all of my energy into teaching when life gave me lemons. My work made sense. It fulfilled me. It was something that came easily to me.

This is where the struggle comes in. What do you do, when the one thing that always made sense in your life is no longer fulfilling you? When the one thing that always brought happiness and joy to your heart, now makes you feel depressed and miserable? I am struggling with my job right now. I am experiencing teacher burnout.

Burnout is a state of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest or motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place. It reduces your productivity and saps your energy, leaving you feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical and resentful. Eventually, you may feel like you have nothing more to give. 

Approximately 50 percent of teachers leave the classroom within their first five years of teaching. I am currently finishing up my fifth year. Burn out is real. I am not sure how this happened. I am not even sure when it began exactly. However, I am struggling to remain positive and focused. I am physically, emotionally and mentally drained from this year.