Avoid Burnout by Finding Your Threshold of Volunteerism By Del Albright, Sustainable Motorized Recreation Advocate It is hard to say no to helping a cause you believe in, but eventually, we say yes too much, our plates become full, frustration hovers, stress builds, and burnout looms in the forefront. As we continue volunteering, we are lucky if we do not blow a gasket, toss a stroke, get mad, or just quit! Once you burn out, you no longer help the cause – you might even hurt it. So, my advice is to learn where your threshold lies and not cross it. Threshold is an ancient word, dating to c.1000 and probably earlier. The term “thresh” was initially meant to stamp on or trample and survive today in the verb to thresh (wheat) and thrash. The “hold” portion is of unknown origin. The threshold is literally the first place in a building you step into and has evolved to mean any gateway. Threshold also means the magnitude or intensity that must be exceeded for a particular reacti...
Adventurer, outdoorsman, four-wheeler, author, and defender of sustainable outdoor motorized recreational access.