Fill Your Cup

Attention Caregivers:  You know who you are… moms, dads, teachers, grandparents, health care workers, social workers, counselors, school administrators, and the list goes on…

If you ever feel like you are on the brink of burnout, that everything is on your shoulders and can’t catch up, and you are giving more than you are taking… GET OVER IT… and Fill Your Cup.

This is a metaphor for living.  Notice, I have chosen a coffee cup for my blog to depict this metaphor because I like coffee.  Certainly, choose any cup and beverage of choice you’d like.

Here’s the metaphor: You cannot give to others when your cup is empty.  If your cup is empty, there is nothing to give (aka. burnout).  When your cup is half full or half empty, it’s not about perspective or level of optimism; your cup is still not full.  Fill Your Cup.  The best time to give to others and feel good about it is when your cup is overflowing.  When coffee is flowing over the rim, your cup is full and there is more to give.

So what?  Two years ago, my cup was empty.  I burned out.  Teaching is a challenging career.  I love teaching, I love inspiring students, and I love collaborating with colleagues.  For many years, teaching was challenging, rewarding, and fulfilling for me.  Then, I turned a corner.  I became a mom, I stopped curling, and no longer felt challenged with teaching.  My cup slowly emptied, yet continued to give.  In time, I had nothing more to give and left teaching.

Strange.  I had nothing left to give and something had to give.  Since leaving the profession, I have been filling my cup.  I am engaged in my graduate studies and the Certificate of University Teaching and Learning (CUTL) program at SFU learning about learning, teaching, and leading.  I am tutoring students and adult learners mathematics and loving it.  I appreciate the educational leadership opportunities I am involved with as school trustee and the feedback I receive for my work.  I am training for the 10K Sun Run race in April and I am spending more time at home.  No more Bag of Chips (BOC), it’s now a Bag of Carrots.  My cup is full again.  I feel confident, purposeful, and happy.

Don’t get me wrong… filling the cup takes time, effort, and hard work.  It is recognizing that the cup is empty or emptying and what are you doing to nourish the soul.  If you put yourself last, then everyone loses.  You can’t help others unless you can help yourself first.  This is a tough life’s lesson.  I had to learn it the hard way, but certainly enjoying my journey back and looking forward to the day when my cup is overflowing.  That’s when the fun truly begins.