AVOIDING PSYCHIC BURNOUT

Avoiding Psychic Burnout is something that’s extremely important in the metaphysical field, and a topic that other readers or those of empathic nature might find value in. It is TEST YOUR TAROT THURSDAY in my Tarot 101 Group Courtesy of my teacher and mentor Kristen Burkhardt-Hanson of Heart to Heart Institute, and in our last thread, one of our members brought up the feeling of feeling phantom pains and a feeling of overwhelm around certain people in the workplace. I have often felt these phantom pains, and have even gotten tested at the doctor again and again only to realize there was absolutely nothing wrong with me. So then WHAT GIVES, you ask? Yea.. Trust me, I’ve asked myself this time and time again, and it wasn’t until only last year that I have begun to make the spiritual connection.

If you have never heard of the term EMPATH… I have written a bit of an extensive blog (Read More Here), an account of my own personal experiences as an Empath and the effect that it has had on me at certain points in my life.  It can really take over your life if you don’t find some way to control it.

Today, along with those involved in the discussion, I have also kind have been a sort of magnet for “OPP” (yea you know me… any Naughty By Nature fans in the house? Yea 90s!)… but anyway… I call this O.P.P. – OTHER PEOPLE’S PROBLEMS. Why do we feel the obligation to have to be able to FIX everything wrong with everyone? I often have friends private message me over pressing matters that they need to vent out, and sometimes even ask for a quick reading. It’s hard to tend to the things this extensive when I have my own things on my To-Do List for today, but you want to stop and help your friend, and feel like a jerk if you don’t, right?

I thought this card was so perfect for today – This card is “Sacrifice” from The Goddess Tarot by Kris Waldherr. This card can also be interpreted as “The Hanged Man” in the traditional Tarot Sense. Sacrifice is represented in this card by Kuan Yin, one of the most beloved Goddesses of China. She represents the Holy Mother of COMPASSION. Pulling this card suggests that we may be experiencing this heightened sensitivity toward empathy, and sacrificing ourselves for the greater good. But this card can also serve as a warning, that if we are not careful with how much we are spreading ourselves too thin, dropping everything we’re doing to try to fix someone else’s problem that you really have no answer for after an hour of mediating … we’re also doing ourselves an incredible disservice. 

​If you are offering free readings as a *special* limited time only service, and you have a set allotted amount of readings you are voluntarily doing per day, you can regulate the energy you are using to avoid exertion. That makes things a little different than say a friend who you rarely talk to, who conveniently pops up out of nowhere, only when they’re itching to find out things about new job they just got, or a new person they started dating, or a falling out they’ve had with so and so.  Sometimes you just don’t have the answers for something or you relay info from the cards to them, that they don’t necessarily want to hear. Not that it’s bad news, it’s just HONEST news, and some just don’t like hearing when something just might not be “in the cards”, so to speak. Sometimes we put ourselves down about the things we have no control over, and that sets our Empathic nature into a downward spiral of pain and maybe even semi-depressing emotions. This is the disservice I am talking about.

We are subconsciously taking on the burdens and obligations of issues that are not our own. These things can have an affect on our own mind, body, and spirit. It is great to help our friends, but only if we have boundaries in place to help us avoid burnout or a miscommunication that might end up doing more damage in the long run. As tarot readers, we become magnets for other people’s problems, but just because we were blessed with the gift of listening and insight, doesn’t mean we should feel OBLIGATED to give it at the drop of a dime, or for free, or because it’s expected, because that’s how friendships work right? Eh.. there’s a fine line between being a good friend and becoming an emotional (and even in some cases, financial) doormat.

I think this beautiful card today was much needed, and a reminder to keep our boundaries in check… because we are no use to ourselves or the ones we love around us, if we’re a sopping wet sponge of other people’s negative bs. Once we can release those obligations that are not our own, back into the universe, we can free ourselves from the pain or sense of overwhelm we feel when we feel like we HAVE to fix things. We don’t. We’re not superman or woman. We’re still only human.
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What are your thoughts on this card? Can you relate to it today? If not, try pulling your own card! What is it telling you? Please share in the comments below!

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