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[velma]

This is a topic for a very close friend of mine, you could say the two of us were joined to the hip. Well, the issue on hand is the fact that she is suffering from an obvious burn out. She isn't doing well romantically, professionally or personally. So this topic is to give her a perspective and "let it out" I suppose even though I am the one writing it for her.

A little about her I suppose, she's been working with her cousin since she was 17 to help him with the business. Everything was fine until a falling out.. I personally think it damaged their teamwork permanently even though their personal chemistry is still the same(they get along really well). She decided to get away from his business for a few months which is when she started working where I was(the vet's clinic). At the age of 17, she decided to put her education and passions aside for the sake of her brother since he needed her, I convinced her to finish at least a basic degree to fall back on in case she can't work with him ever again since the hours at the clinic are super grueling(11:30 am to 9:00 were the published times but we've stayed back as late as 11:00 pm). I think that was wrong of me, making her work and study at the same time since she was already fending for herself at her home(her parents have higher priorities you see >_>). She managed to clear her first year despite all odds which is admirable but all her family and friends could tell that it bugged her the most(she barely passed, she wanted to get higher grades).

We are the cripple sisters since she has a seriously bad back while I have seriously bad knees so while I decided to leave the clinic for the sake of my Masters, she decided to leave for the sake of her brother a month ago. Earlier it seemed like a good idea to her since she was banking on the same old chemistry and teamwork which was obviously non existent now. So she has been in this steady decline ever since, mentally and physically. Because the stress of home, family and work is beginning to show in her work. The girl can't seem to focus any more and I've tried getting her into exercising with me(swimming to strengthen the knees)but she just sits there in a corner going down. She is an amazingly feisty girl who lives for her work and to see her incapable of working is driving me nuts. She's been crying herself to sleep the entire week because she notices the lack of progress, and now she has been warned by her brother that he would sack her if her performance does not peak.

Sorry about going on and on, but she is someone I really cherish and don't want to see fizzle out. I am incapable of sympathy(I blame my childhood )but I know how amazing members here are so could you all please let her know that burn outs can be overcome if she wants. Maybe you guys could share your own burn out experiences.

[k_nitin_r]

Working with family does have one disadvantage, which is that you can't tell them you don't want to work with them once you sign them up, without some serious fall out and that is what seems to be happening. If you work with total strangers, sure you may not really know how they work and the chemistry may take longer to form, but there still is the fact that when you fire them, there's no harm no foul.

A burn out is common among people who stretch themselves but then again, the rewards are plenty for such folk. When managing work, a business, and education, getting low grades is no big deal - how many employers actually check the grades of their recruits when they've got plenty of experience to back them up?

Getting one's priorities right is a pretty challenging thing to do because it involves a trade-off so if things do not turn out well, starting up one's own business is not a bad proposition at all. The number of people who have tried and failed may be many but there's more hope when going down trying than to have never tried at all.