Living Balance

The agony of decisions

Decisions!  Love them or hate them they are omnipresent.  Most of the mundane everyday decisions we don’t even notice, like getting up or getting dressed.  We make hundreds of these nondescript decisions everyday.  It is the ‘other ones’ that have some of us declaring that we ‘can’t make decisions’ and for others feeling frozen like a deer in the headlights!

Some decisions just sit there like a heavy weight.

There is no obvious solution.  No right or wrong.  Not really even a deadline.  I know this.  But knowing doesn’t make it any easier.  I have even taught theories of decision making at university and one of my ‘famous quotes’ came back at me in a students term paper, “when it comes right down to it, most of us toss a coin”.  In my defense, it’s true.

I know there are rarely perfectly clear answers to decisions.  Heck, there are no perfect answers at all.  And yet I find myself wanting a clear sign from the Universe like a bird flying by holding a sign that says ‘choose this’!  One minute I think I know but in the next instance I am arguing (with myself) for the opposite!  I’m sure you all know what I mean.

So I try to muster up all the wisdom (giving myself credit here) that I have accumulated over many many years and tell myself to just sit with it, go with the flow, trust the Universe and any other motivational sound bite I can recall.

Despite my best efforts every fibre in my being screams, ‘just decide’!  Let me be clear, there is absolutely no time pressure on this decision, only self-induced.  I can take as long as it takes to figure it out: days, months, even years.

Still the pressure feels intense and heavy like the air before a thunderstorm.  It demands attention.

I have taken many ‘leaps of faith’ in my life: many hold your nose and jump moments when I didn’t have a clue if my decision was ‘right’.  So everyday I ask myself why does this decision feel so different?  I haven’t figured this out.  Only that it is a lesson in patience, trust and faith.

By now you are either glazing over from my indecision or asking what on earth this massive decision is.  Well, here it is… After almost 7 years living on the edge of a small village in the countryside, with at times only sheep as neighbours, do we move back to city living or not?  (By the way, do you know how loud sheep can be?  I didn’t, they are!)

Every decision means an ending and a beginning; letting go of something known and embracing something new.

All I can say is…When l know, I’ll know.  When I know, you’ll know.  Together we can celebrate the end of the agony of not knowing!  In the meantime you can follow our spiral path, every twist and turn, forward, back and begin again!

Until next time, Embrace Life!

Dr Toby & Dr Bev (aka:  The Burnout Queens) xx

 

 

Embracing a summer-pace lifestyle

Always striving for balance we’ve taken impromptu moments away from work to de-stress and play… after all darling, we’re all about putting our burnout-balance-bliss system to the test. 

We’re calling this our summer-pace lifestyle.  It takes skill, boundaries, and plenty of curiosity.

Relaxing days strolling through newly discovered neighbourhoods, poking around interesting shops, checking out the art open houses and plenty of room for afternoon tea…cake and all.  It’s what we both love and do best.  

The benefit of all this summer fun?   We return to work refreshed, rested and creative.

(Of course you can always catch our latest edition of ‘Hello from London & Lewes’ to see the photos that prove we are living what we suggest!)

Here’s to embracing your own summer-pace lifestyle. 

The Burnout Queens xx

 

The Big Leap’s initial excitement

Our first morning in our new country happened to be JULY 4th!  How symbolic for two Canadians to be celebrating our own Independance Day in a country we had held as a dream destination since we were both teenagers.  We sat in the local cafe (we had to have the English breakfast) and just watched and took in the vibe of our new neighbourhood.  It felt great and we had given ourselves a month to settle into the flow of London while we waited for our container of furniture to arrive.

Arrival date, first rental flat and lucky us it was a dreamy, quirky little up-down with a garden in North London.  Welcome home!

It was fun to start decorating and fitting our belongings into a smaller space, making it work, making it feel like home, yet seeing it all in a new way.

We were settling into our adventure with enthusiasm.  And of course we found a real passion for ‘taking tea’ wherever we explored.  So many options and all the time in the world we kept saying.  We’re not on holiday, this is where we live now.  Yet it felt like the best holiday ever!

 

Embracing our new routine and lifestyle. Sunday morning reads & tea

New routines, new locals, new neighbours, new everything.  And even though we were in England, everything had different labels, brands and names.  Tiring work, so relaxing for tea and a read became our new norm!

 

 

 

Good start at living a Burnout-Free Lifestyle don’t you think?

Love, The Burnout Queens xx

 

 

 

 

The Big Leap times 10 years!

From Here to There!

From Here

We just cannot believe it has been a full decade that we left our home and country.  Last evening we were sitting in the Vancouver International Airport saying ‘shouldn’t we be nervous, or sad, or something?’  We weren’t, we were just quietly waiting for our one-way ticket to our new destination in life.

Brave or stupid?  Just feels right.  We had sold our condo, money in the bank, said good-bye to family, friends, neighbours and clients (although some would stay with us over skype), all our belongings except our luggage was packed into a container enroute across Canada to board a boat heading east!

A big leap of faith was starting to really happen.

I vividly remember looking out the window of the plane as we took off, looking back at my neighbourhood (we climbed right over it) and thought…’I don’t know what will happen or how it will turn out, but I’m open to whatever transpires’.

A long sleep, a beautifully calm flight and we landed in our new homeland.  The customs woman looked at our passports and VISAs and said, ‘welcome home‘.  Just such a deeply happy moment we had both waited for for the last 4 decades.  You couldn’t wipe the smiles off our faces, even after the 10 hour flight and time-change.

To There

 

 

 

 

 

So it’s official.  We live in England and over the next 10 or so days in honour of these 10 years,  we’ll give you a peek at the life we set up and are living from then until now (warts, pups and all)!

In the meantime…..

HAPPY 10th ANNIVERSARY TO THE BOTH OF US!

Crack open the books

What better time than summer to crack open the books you’ve longed to read all year long.  The days are long, the pace is summer-slow, and the time is yours to catch up on yourself.  

The Burnout Queens believe in the power of knowledge.  With our psychology degrees, our coaching expertise, and a specialty in womens’ issues, we wanted to share just a few books that will help you jump any life hurdles and open you up to even more personal growth. 

Here are a few of our ‘must reads’ to get you started.

  1. Excuses Begone! (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer)
  2. Be Happy.  (Robert Holden, Ph.D.)
  3. Quiet.   (Susan Cain)

 

Happy Reading darling. 

Dr Toby Silverton & Dr Bev McLagan  aka…The Burnout Queens xx

 

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