![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.warmbeach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/employeeburnout.jpg\")
\u201cI feel tired, sort of thin inside, like butter spread over too much toast,\u201d Bilbo confesses to Gandalf. Kind of feels familiar for far too many of us. Burnout is one of the top, if not the top reason people leave camp ministry.<\/p>\n\u201cI feel tired, sort of thin inside, like butter spread over too much toast,\u201d Bilbo confesses to Gandalf. Kind of feels familiar for far too many of us. Burnout is one of the top, if not the top reason people leave camp ministry.<\/p>\n
Early on, burnout may feel like over-anxiousness, irritability (anger or other extreme emotions) far in excess of the immediate cause, constant weariness, spiritual dryness, or detachment. You may feel trapped, like the Bono song describes, \u201cOn an island in the middle of a busy intersection, I can\u2019t go forward and I can\u2019t turn back\u2026\u201d Later on, the symptoms may manifest themselves in physical ways, such as sleeplessness, mysterious pain, or extreme weight gain or loss.<\/p>\n
Our burnout doesn\u2019t just affect us. Our relationships suffer. Often those closest to us suffer the most as we are often physically absent trying to get one more thing done or pouring ourselves into one more demanding \u201cpeople situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Working in camp ministry is exhilarating and dangerous to the soul. Here, you are helping others, sharing Christ, doing good, meeting needs, fixing, maintaining, and answering a blizzard of emails, texts, and voice mails every day. Pressures to perform with inadequate budgets and staff can drive us unreasonably. The dangers of burnout are all around. Here are five ways to avoid burnout I\u2019ve learned over my 34 years of experience in camp ministry:<\/p>\n
There are no easy answers. Many good books, seminars, PhD studies, and more have contributed to a wide range of resources available on this topic.<\/p>\n
Choose to be where you are and what you want to engage in. If you get in over your head, stop and reassess. If someone who knows you intervenes, listen. Choose wisely the ways in which you respond to situations, expectations and demands. Build in disciplines, accountability markers, and boundaries that keep you refreshed and engaged in sustainability to your calling.<\/p>\n
-Patrick Patterson, General Manager\/C.O.O.
\nWarm Beach Camp & Conference Center<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI feel tired, sort of thin inside, like butter spread over too much toast,\u201d Bilbo confesses to Gandalf. Kind of feels familiar for far too many of us. Burnout is one of the top, if not the top reason people leave camp ministry. Early on, burnout may feel like over-anxiousness, irritability (anger or other extreme…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5649,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n