You’ve been burning on both ends and if you don’t give yourself a minute to pause, you’ll burn out. Even outside the COVID-19 crisis, youth-serving leaders and staff suffer from burn out. But now after experiencing a spike in energy to pivot, re-arrange, cancel, postpone, furlough and virtualize, you may be more drained than you realize.

We’re five or six weeks into this isolated life with no clear end in sight and it’s time to take a break. It feels like there are thousands of tips flying around to support us all with activities to keep ourselves afloat. Yet, has anyone else noticed, that all these encouraging, link-laden emails seem to just add to the mountain of unease and anxiety? For me, it’s like: “Not only am I feeling stressed, I’m also not doing enough to not feel stressed.” Not. So. Helpful.

Let’s talk about what it means to thrive. For example, take PEAR’s Clover Model of Youth Development that highlights four domains of thriving:

• Active engagement

• Assertiveness/voice

• Belonging

• Reflection

It turns out that this model can also support adults.  While the thought of thriving seems almost tone-deaf right now as many of us have been focused on surviving— both on the home front and at work—we also have been acting within these four domains: We’ve been actively managing this crisis for ourselves, our families and our organizations. We’ve voiced our needs. We’ve continued a sense of belonging by maintaining social and professional connections through virtual platforms. But, have we taken time for reflection? Have we taken time to consider what we’re experiencing and how we’re making any meaning from it?

Personal reflection is a tool that’s probably already in your leadership repertoire but maybe you haven’t done it for the past five weeks or so amidst everything else. Reflection gives your brain a moment to pause amidst the chaos, untangle and sort through observations and experiences, consider multiple possible interpretations, and create meaning. Use the time you were going to take to read this post and instead, take a couple minutes for reflection.

In our DWL workshops, a favorite strategy to encourage the reflection process uses quotations. Here’s what you do:

1) Choose a quote from the list below that resonates with you. Read it out loud.

2) Write in a journal or simply think through carefully what you think the quote means and how it relates to what you are experiencing right now.

3) That’s it! Praise yourself for taking a few minutes to pause and create meaning from your own experience.

“Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know.” – Pema Chödrön

“Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.” – Hermann Hesse

“Is it strange to say love is a language/Few practice, but all, or near all speak?” -Tracy K. Smith

"In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers.” -Fred Rogers

“You're not obligated to win. You're obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.” -Marian Wright Edelman

“Grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life's search for love and wisdom.” -Rumi

And, if you are actually looking for some more tips, I really liked this article and the three very doable tips to build resilience in the face of crisis.