What a Morning Prayer Taught Me ABout Burnout
- belashah27
- Aug 23
- 3 min read
Every morning, I begin my day with a prayer of gratitude, giving thanks for all the awakened and enlightened souls in the universe.
This morning, in the middle of that prayer, I noticed something: a tightness in my chest. A resistance.
I paused. And I realized that for the past few weeks, I had been resisting my current reality more than I was willing to admit.
My partner and I found ourselves in the middle of moving again - after just two years of packing up the home we loved in the Bay Area to be closer to family, we were once more packing up a home. It was a difficult decision and I had been holding onto frustration, sadness, and the heaviness of transition. As I allowed myself to sit with the resistance in my chest, tears welled up. In that moment, I remembered a powerful teaching from the silent ten-day meditation retreats I attend every year:
When we resist reality - when we want things to be different than they are - we create our own suffering.
Letting myself fully feel the sadness and release it brought me back to center. And it reminded me of the leaders I coach.
The Burnout Trap of Emotions
Mission-driven leaders often fall into two traps with emotions:
Resisting or numbing - pushing emotions down, pretending they aren’t there.
Being swept away - letting strong emotions, like anger or frustration, fuel their work.
Both paths eventually lead to burnout.
One remarkable woman I coach is fighting to protect vulnerable women and girls in South Asia from cycles of trafficking and violence. She told me:
“I feel like the system is so broken and nothing I can do will be enough. It makes me so angry.”
Her anger was valid. But beneath the anger, we uncovered profound sadness. She realized that if she continued to let anger drive her work, she would lose her ability to respond with discernment and wisdom to the complex systems she’s navigating.
This is the pattern I see again and again: resistance, grasping, or emotional over-identification skew our perspective. We either burn out from trying to fight reality, or numb ourselves until we disengage completely.
Responding with Wisdom
The alternative is not complacency. It’s presence.
When we step back from resistance and emotional overwhelm, we begin to see things as they are, not through filters of grasping, craving, or rejection. From there, we can respond with clarity.
Wisdom emerges when we:
Observe our emotions without letting them control us.
Notice the physical signals in our bodies.
Release the unhelpful narratives that cloud our perspective.
This morning, by observing the resistance in my chest, I could release the heaviness and reconnect with what is possible. I could see my current reality, the resources around me, and the people I can count on.
This is the work I believe in: helping leaders come back to presence so they can sustain their purpose without burning out.
✨For the mission-driven leaders reading this: how do you relate to your emotions in your work? Do you find yourself resisting, numbing, or being swept away—and what helps you return to presence?
Burnout doesn’t have to be the cost of doing meaningful work. If you’d like support in creating space to lead with clarity and wisdom, I invite you to schedule a free consultation with me. Together, we can explore what will help you thrive in your leadership and well-being.
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