August 19, 2025 • 23 mins
Description:
If you’ve ever felt like life was unbearably heavy—so heavy you wanted to quit—you’re not alone. In this raw and practical episode, Jim Burgoon opens up about depression, burnout, and what Scripture and psychology both reveal about navigating soul-tired seasons.
Through biblical truth, psychological research, and lived experience, Jim shares why heaviness doesn’t disqualify you from your calling—and the surprising truth nobody tells you about depression and burnout.
This isn’t a pep talk. This is a roadmap to rise again.
🔑 Episode Highlights
- Why depression and heaviness are human responses, not weakness.
- The connection between chronic stress, burnout, and your nervous system.
- What Scripture shows us through David, Elijah, and Jesus about soul-heaviness.
- The R.I.S.E. framework: 4 steps to remember when you want to give up.
- A simple Mind–Heart–Body check-in to reset your life.
- Why hobbies, novelty, and creativity can actually rewire your brain with hope.
📝 Key Takeaways
- Heaviness ≠ brokenness. It’s a human response to prolonged stress.
- You are still called—even when you feel soul-tired.
- Small steps stack into momentum. Don’t underestimate the power of one action.
- Healing comes through community, faith, and radical acceptance.
- Your mind, heart, and body all need regular check-ins.
📖 Scripture References
- Psalm 42:5 – “Why, my soul, are you downcast? … Put your hope in God.”
- Hebrews 12:2 – “For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross.”
- Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 – “Two are better than one…”
- Philippians 4:8 – “Whatever is true, noble, right, pure…think on these things.”
- Matthew 11:28 – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened…”
💡 For the Listener
If you’re walking through a heavy season right now, you’re not broken—and you’re not disqualified. God’s call on your life has not changed. Take one small step today, invite God and others into it, and remember: you are still called.
🎁 Resources & Links:
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- Share this episode with a friend
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
If you've ever felt that lifewas heavy, that you wanted to give
up, that you just felt like itwas just too much to create to put
something out into the world,well, today's your episode.
Welcome to Online Business forChristian Creatives, the show that
helps you build a businessthat honors God, fuels your creativity,
(00:21):
and actually pays the bills.
I'm your host, Jim Burgoon,leadership coach, Faith first, entrepreneur,
and a guy who's made justabout out every mistake so you don't
have to.
Let's get into it.
Hey, friends.
Welcome back to the show.
My name is Jim.
I'm your host today.
(00:42):
I'm so grateful that you'rehere today.
I wanted to dive into anepisode that was a little bit different
than the normal because Iwasn't feeling up to doing a lot
of stuff.
I wasn't feeling up toproducing or creating.
Matter of fact, I felt reallyheavy, and I felt like I just wanted
to lay in bed all day.
And if you followed the showfor any length of time, you know,
(01:03):
I do struggle with somechronic illness and some other things,
but then I got up and I waslike, you know, instead of the normal
inspirational motivationalstuff wrapped around some deep, like
science and different things,let's just have an open, honest discussion
with some practical tips onwhat do you do when you feel too
(01:24):
heavy or too down to do anything.
So as we dive into thisepisode, we want to make sure that
we first recognize thatfeeling heavy, feeling depression,
things like that, is anatural, normal experience in this
thing we call life.
That is not something that is unusual.
If anybody have ever told youthat your depression is not normal,
(01:45):
they are lying to you.
Depression at some point,whether it be seasonal or environmental
or situational, does happen.
So we need to accept it, butwe also need to understand that we
need to do something about it.
Now, one side note, there areclinical depression, which is different
than just seasonal orsituational depression.
(02:07):
We want to make sure we notethat because that takes medical diagnosis
and that takes medical therapyand just different things to navigate
that conversation.
But for today, the whole thingwe want to context this with is if
you feel heavy, downdepressed, and you don't want to
create, you don't want to getout there, you don't want to do anything,
(02:28):
what do you do?
And so, with that being said,why do we feel heavy?
And the first thing is divinginto the psychology of it.
Your chronic stress that youhave been avoiding, that I have been
avoiding, has gotten tocritical mass.
This is where the nervoussystem gets stuck in Fight or flight.
(02:48):
This is where we are.
We're fried.
That's really what it comesdown to.
We are fried because we neveradequately coped with the stress
that we were under.
So we experience these timesof heaviness because it's our nervous
system screaming at us.
We need to do something aboutthis because we're our fight orf
flight mechanism is flipped on.
(03:10):
And this is something we haveto make sure we understand the signs.
Signs like, you're tired, youmaybe have brain fog.
Depression doesn't always meanyou're crying.
I mean, we get thisunderstanding like, oh, he's depressed
because he's crying.
That's not the case.
Sometimes depression isfatigue or lack of any type of want
to do anything.
Sometimes it's you don't wantto get up and actually get out of
(03:32):
bed.
Sometimes you just zone out ona video game and you're just doing
the thing because the numbnesshas set in.
And these are all warningsigns that we have to make sure we're
understanding and seeing atleast and putting them before God,
getting a therapist if we needit, but doing something about it.
Because if we ignore thewarning signs, we move from these
(03:54):
places of heaviness toburnout, to some sort of medical
condition to some sort ofhealth condition.
But we want to avoid that.
So that was what we're goingto start with.
Understanding of thepsychological groundwork.
Biblically, we see this too.
Psalm 42.
5 says, this is David saying,why my soul are you downcast?
(04:18):
Why so disturbed within me?
Pour your hope in or put yourhope in God.
This is what he says.
So here's a man after God'sown heart who is completely weighed
down.
He's heavy.
We see this with Elijah, whohad this massive victory over the
prophets, and then he's foundin a cave depressed, and God is feeding
(04:41):
him and taking care of him.
So.
So we do see this soulheaviness throughout scripture.
So if you're listening todayand you say, I feel broken, I feel
lost, I feel so tired thatrest won't help.
I feel all of these things, Ihave to tell you, this isn't weakness.
It's a human response toprolonged weight that you've been
(05:02):
carrying and never dealing with.
And I've got to make sure thatwe understand that you are feeling
the heaviness because we've.
You have not dealt with it,because I know I have been somebody
like that as well, where thelonger we put off it, the more it
comes back against us.
And you're not broken, you're human.
(05:23):
And as humans, we've got tomake sure that we are maintaining
the temple that God has putour souls in.
So with that being said, herewe go.
We're going to dive into some practicality.
So the question we often askwhen I want to give up, what do I
do?
Do I just lean into it andgive up?
Do I follow the temptation and quit?
(05:45):
Do I?
Or do I get tools or somethingthat can say, here's what I can do
in order to get through this,get over this, get, navigate this
and things like that.
Now, first and foremost,before we dive into the acronym I
created for you today, I willtell you, and I've got a precursor
this, that if you needtherapy, get therapy.
(06:06):
We do promote and say therapyis a viable option for Christians.
If you've ever been told thatthat is not like that's somehow against
your faith, you have been lied to.
Get if you need therapy, goafter it.
Let's dive into this acronym,which I'm calling rise.
Because when we feel low, wewant to rise above it.
(06:26):
And that way you can do somethings on your own for self care.
So the first one in the RISEacronym is R. And that's for remember
your why.
Now, in business we talk about this.
Remember your why.
Because this is the thing thatdrives you.
But I also want to say this issomething very important in our personal
lives.
Because remembering our why,why we do this, why we show up, why
(06:48):
we wake up, why we don't endour life, this is extremely important.
Here's Hebrews, Hebrews 12:2for the joy set before him, Jesus
endured the cross.
He didn't fixate on the pain.
He didn't fixate on the traumaof it.
He fixated on or he anchoredhimself in the why he was doing it.
(07:09):
So when you and I are goingthrough something heavy, just go
back to the place of whatRemember your calling.
What did God say to me?
What is he saying to me?
What is he calling me to?
Remember that calling.
Because that is going to bethe fuel you'll need to show up to
either take care of yourself.
That is still showing up.
(07:30):
Self care is showing up andtaking care of yourself or showing
up like this and giving you apodcast episode around something
you may be struggling with oryou know, if you need.
If you want to start apodcast, I'm helping.
Happy to help you start that.
Reach out to me.
Jim Leadwith jim.com Butyou've got to remember your why.
And so and for some of youguys, your why is your Children,
(07:52):
some of you guys, your why isyour legacy what you're building
to leave to your next generation.
Your why may be to being ableto stand in crowds to do this.
Whatever that why is, it's not stupid.
It's not less than.
Don't compare your why.
Remember your why when youfeel low.
(08:13):
The second thing is I inviteGod and others into the problem.
Now, Ecclesiastes 4 saidreminds us two are better than one.
See, we don't fight isolation,loneliness and heaviness by ourselves.
We fight it with friends.
We fight it with God.
And so when we, when we reallyget into this, what we do, you and
(08:37):
I and what psychology hasshown us that when something hard
or heavy hits us, we want to isolate.
And this could be a traumaresponse because we are in fight
orf flight.
And the trauma response couldbe, I don't trust myself or I don't
trust others when I'm vulnerable.
So let me do this.
And what that this is, isrunning into the room, locking it
(08:59):
until you feel better.
That is not how we fight our battles.
As a Christian, and especiallyin the business world, when we step
up, we think we can take onthe world, hide from it a little
bit and come back and take it on.
This is not how we fight our battles.
How we fight our battles is in community.
Read the entire New Testament.
(09:20):
It goes back to community.
And if you are running fromcommunity, you're running from God's
plan on how to push you, howto grow you, how to speak to you,
and how to rise.
Rise you above the things thatyou're facing.
We invite God into the processand then we invite our dear friends.
Not every friend.
Don't go on social media beinglike, hey, I feel like this today
(09:43):
so that you can get theselittle dopamine hits and make yourself
feel better, Right?
Like on your birthday when youget 500 people saying happy birthday.
No, this is not what this is.
You get the two or threepeople who are going to lift you
up in a way that's going to bevery unique to you and your friendship.
And they do it because theycare, not because they want something
(10:03):
from you.
So in our, in our acronym ofrise, the next thing is S. This is.
Small steps matter.
Small steps matter becausepsychology shows us that even tiny
steps, tiny actions liketaking a shower, fixing your bed,
going for a walk, or writing asentence, maybe you get in there
(10:25):
and you read one scripture, man.
What I mean, one scripture.
It's one verse.
Maybe you just write one thingin your journal.
Maybe you're gonna type onepost that day.
Every little action stacks can.
And this can lift your moodbecause each action completed represents
a win.
And every win that you gainwill lift your mood.
(10:48):
As long as you're not on theclinical side, that's a different
conversation.
I got to remind you of that.
But every win that you stackcan lift your mood, change the way
you feel, and allow you toengage in a deeper way.
This is called behavioralactivation therapy.
It's small, but it's powerful.
(11:09):
And I want you to hear thatbecause you know, you hear it online
anyway.
They're like, take action,take action.
Stop overthinking, Take action.
But psychology tells us thereis some truth to that.
So instead of living in ourheads in isolation, map out small
steps.
They may seem insignificant toyour thought process, but they are
(11:30):
never insignificant to yournervous system.
So I want you to make surethat when you feel low and you want
to rise above it, take thesmall actions, no matter how many
or how little they are.
Every little action stacks andevery stack means at some point,
there's a tipping point whereit changes everything.
And what you felt before nowis not how you're feeling.
(11:53):
And then the last thing.
And this is more of a place ofradical acceptance.
And this is our E, which isexpect es and flows.
Now, I am huge on thisconversation around ebbs and flows
because healing is not linear.
Feelings don't followpatterns, right?
We have patterns.
Every one of us have patterns.
We live by, speak by ebbs,behave by.
(12:15):
But feelings can just throwchaos into all of that.
And there are good days, thereare bad days.
There are really bad days, andthey're really good days.
But grace gives us thepermission to ride the wave instead
of forcing ourselves to be on.
You know, the quotes here foryou guys who are just listening,
quote unquote on.
(12:36):
For you guys in YouTube on, right.
All the time.
But see, we take scripturesout of.
Out of context, like, be readyin season and all season to say,
in season and out of season tosay, hey, we need to be on all the
time.
No, you do not need to be onall the time.
You need to be present.
But present looks different inevery situation.
(12:57):
And you don't need to be likethe master of the wave every time.
Sometimes the surfer spillsand gets wiped out.
Sometimes they ride the barreldown the.
Down the pike.
You like this, right?
This is my side note oflearning surfing terms.
I am not a surfer, by the way,but they ride that pipe down and
it looks cool as anything.
And they're having A good daybecause they're like, yeah, they
(13:19):
just got that woo.
You know, both are adequate,both are acceptable because we ride
the ebbs and flows.
And this is where we have topractice radical acceptance.
You cannot ride in ebb andflow without radical acceptance because
radical acceptance tells usthat we understand and accept.
There will be highs, therewill be lows.
I will have good days, I willhave bad days.
(13:42):
Bad.
But the es and flows of it isgoing to constantly shift, which
means my good day will notalways be my good day.
My bad day will not always bemy bad day.
Everything I go through,everything I feel has the opportunity
to flip, and we have to livein the radical acceptance of that.
Because when I radicallyaccept that things can go either
(14:02):
way, they can change in aminute, that, you know what, I. I
can just accept and be like,I'm okay, it's going to be okay.
If I'm in a really bad day, Ican accept that it's going to be
a good day at some point todayor tomorrow or maybe the next day,
if I'm in a really good day, Ican even accept that, you know what?
I'm in a really good day.
And at some point something'sgoing to come and try to mess my
(14:23):
day up.
And that's okay too.
We ride the ebbs and flowsbecause we're trusting God to bring
us to a place of maturity.
And in doing that, we can restand not be all the.
All on, all the time so thatwe can give our nervous system a
break, a rest, a respite, inorder to take us out of fight and
flight and be in rest and remember.
(14:45):
And if you've listened to thisshow, I don't.
It doesn't matter if you're anentrepreneur, a leader, a business
owner, you know, a creator, anauthor, a speaker, whatever you put
your moniker or your title on.
The thing is, is that we haveto trust God and God tells us to
rest.
So we lead our business from aplace of rest, not from a place of
(15:06):
always being on.
So whenever you feel likegiving up or laying low or isolating,
remember the acronym of rise.
Remember your why invite Godand others into the situation.
Small steps matter and go withthe ebbs and flows.
And as a bonus, I want to giveyou one more tactic, one more tip,
(15:28):
one more thought, because I gothrough this a lot.
And just to give you the basisof somebody who is diagnosed with
complex ptsd, who also isdiagnosed with something that's called
pdd, which is persistentdepression disorder, and who also
loves Jesus with all of hisheart that we do have these things
(15:48):
where we're dealing with theissues of life before a holy God.
And we watch God change andhelp us and transform us and get
us through the low days.
Because it's in our weaknessGod's perfected in his power and
his presence.
And it's in our good dayswhere we can walk side by side with
a friend and the friend wehave in Jesus.
I want to give you this onelast thing because I live this, the
(16:11):
rise I, you know, and I livethis other thing I'm about to tell
you because it's the, it's themind, heart, body check in kind of
thing.
But it's a tool I use andhere's what it is.
Let's just get into it.
So with the mind, I alwayskind of when I'm feeling down, and
today as just transparency.
I was feeling really downtoday just because I can't tell you
(16:32):
why.
It's just happens.
And, and with the mind, it'swhat thought is weighing me down.
Like I really try to sit thereand reflect on.
And I ask the Holy Spirit,help me understand what thought is
weighing me down.
Then I ask, is it true?
Is this thought true?
Or does my body believe it's true?
Because they are not the samething, my friends.
(16:53):
And can I reframe what I'm believing?
Because if it's not true, Ican reframe it to the truth of this,
of the Word of God.
If it is true, then what am I believing?
That's caus it to havefriction in my body, that or my mind.
So what do I need to let go ofin order to come in alignment with
the truth?
And you know, and then itcomes back to the mind thing with
(17:15):
Philippians 4.
8.
Whatever is true, whatever isnoble, whatever is right, whatever
is pure, think on thesethings, right?
And then later, somewhere inthat, those verses it says, and this
will, you know, the peace ofGod that passes all understanding
will guard your heart.
And then we know in Proverbsthat guard your heart with all.
With all diligence, for out ofit flows the issues of life.
(17:37):
So if I'm.
If my mind is often heavy andI go into the.
Through that process, is it true?
What am I believing?
What is weighing me down?
And I really dive into that.
And then I say, okay, of that,what can I really think on?
And if I think on thesethings, the peace of God that passes
all our understanding willguard my heart.
And if my heart is guardedwith all diligence, Then the issues
(17:58):
of life will begin to settle.
The second thing is the heart connection.
Now, because your mind, yourheart, this is all interconnected.
You are not just a mind, bodyand heart, or mind, body, and soul
just kind of jumbled in there.
You are connected.
So the heart connection is.
What connection do I needright now?
So instead of running, who doI need right now that can cheer me
(18:21):
up?
Who do I need right now thatcan sit with me?
Do I need a friend?
Do I need a journal?
Do I need to sit with God in prayer?
Or do I need all the above?
And these are things that wehave to really figure out to connect
our heart.
And I want to make mention nowJob's friends gets a bad rap.
They're like, yeah, you'veprobably been in church or heard
it on there.
And everybody preaches againstJob's friends.
(18:43):
But I want to tell yousomething about interesting the Holy
Spirit showed me about Job andhis friends is that in the beginning
of Job's Friends, they satwith him for seven days ripping hit
their clothes, you know, whichis a sign of great grief.
And they sat in silence forseven days with Job just being present
before they even got into the whole.
(19:03):
Maybe you did this, and maybeyou did this trying to have that
discourse.
Sometimes you need a friend tojust sit with you.
Sometimes you just need tocall somebody.
Hey, can you come over?
I don't want to say a word.
Let's just eat pizza together.
Let's just have ice creamtogether and just sit there in silence.
I just need somebody present.
Maybe it is the journal.
Maybe it is just prayer.
Maybe it's all the above.
(19:23):
You need to ask yourself, whatconnection do I need to make right
now?
And the last thing is the body.
And this is a big question for me.
And I've taught my wife thisover the years because she struggles
with some mental illness.
And I.
And I ask her, and I tell her,whenever you're feeling off dysregulated
and things, ask yourself, whatdo I need right now?
What does my body need?
(19:44):
Do I need more sleep?
Do I need better nutrition?
Do I need to move?
Most of us need to move morebecause we sit in front of these
computers and on TV screensall day long.
We need to move.
Do we need a break?
Do we need to do something?
Do we need to fish?
Do I need to go out in nature?
My wife loves nature.
I like it when it's cooleroutside and a little bit at dusk
(20:04):
or dawn.
But either way, what does yourbody need?
And then go, give it to it.
Like for me, all of this, I gothrough this process and I realized
today I need adventure again.
It's been so long since I've traveled.
Matter of fact, the last timeI traveled out, you know, inside
the US it was for the Spartan races.
And then my body justcompletely, it collapsed.
(20:26):
And so I haven't had theability to travel because of the
sickness I've been under.
But I want to travel again.
I want to, you know, I want toplan to Hawaii, I want to plan a
trip to Iceland and I want toplan a trip to these places that
I want to see with my eyes.
The aurora borealis is like adream for me.
I also know I need to start a hobby.
And because I'm a multipassionate and probably have a touch
(20:49):
of ADHD and a littlegiftedness, I want to learn how to
forge.
I forged a knife one time andnow I want to buy the whole set and
forge in my garage.
But I'm in the middle of acity so I wonder if they'll let you
do that.
And if not, can we sell thehouse and go live in a countryside
so I can forge?
These are things that speak tomy soul.
These are cravings I'm having.
(21:09):
Now I am a creative, so I'mcreating, creating creative things
that involve people becauseI'm a people person that involves
people, travel, adventure and creativity.
That may not be you.
You may just need a booksomewhere in the world with a cup
of coffee and that's all you need.
That's okay too.
But I'm going to tell you, gofind something life giving and go
do it.
(21:30):
And you know, science backsthis up because novelty and hobbies
boost dopamine and actuallyhelp rewire our brains with through
neuroplasticity.
And because of that, and I'lljust give you the basis of that,
what it gives is it gives yourbrain hope again.
It rewires it to tell youyou're not trash, you're not gonna
(21:53):
live in a negative world.
You have hope.
And for us as a believer, wefind our hope in Jesus Christ.
So let's go ahead and startdoing the things we need.
Rise above it, mind, heart,body, and include it with that.
And go out and live theadventure that you've been telling
yourself you're unable to do.
You get one life in thisworld, you.
(22:13):
And there's few things that weget to do or we're mandated to do.
One of those things is toshare the message of the gospel.
We are mandated to do those things.
The other things you get topick where that is, when that is,
how that is, and you followthe Holy Spirit on an adventure of
a lifetime.
And just before we go, I wantto do invite you in to an email list
(22:35):
of growing about I think I'vegot over a little 4, 400 plus people
on this email list that I'mworking on sending an email out every
week.
It's going to include journalprompts, it's going to include some
dep you don't hear on theepisode regularly, some Bible studies,
some business advice, somecreativity and it's just me getting
to know you and us building a relationship.
You'd like to do that?
(22:55):
Go to leadwithjim.comforward/nl jump on the list.
Let's hang out together.
I would love to have you thereand just let's grow and see what
God's going to do together.
And as we close this episodeout, I'm so grateful that you've
made it this far.
If life feels heavy, if itfeels unbearable, just know the scripture.
I'm going to give you encouragement.
(23:16):
Scripture Matthew 11:28 Cometo me.
This is Jesus talking.
Come to me, all you who areweary and burdened, and I will give
you rest.
So if life is heavy, riseabove it.
Mind, body, soul, my heart, body.
Get into it with Jesus Christ.
Get his rest and then go outand do your day and I'll see you
(23:37):
on the next episode.
If you've ever felt that lifewas heavy, that you wanted to give
up, that you just felt like itwas just too much to create to put
something out into the world,well, today's your episode.
Welcome to Online Business forChristian Creatives, the show that
helps you build a businessthat honors God, fuels your creativity,
(00:21):
and actually pays the bills.
I'm your host, Jim Burgoon,leadership coach, Faith first, entrepreneur,
and a guy who's made justabout out every mistake so you don't
have to.
Let's get into it.
Hey, friends.
Welcome back to the show.
My name is Jim.
I'm your host today.
(00:42):
I'm so grateful that you'rehere today.
I wanted to dive into anepisode that was a little bit different
than the normal because Iwasn't feeling up to doing a lot
of stuff.
I wasn't feeling up toproducing or creating.
Matter of fact, I felt reallyheavy, and I felt like I just wanted
to lay in bed all day.
And if you followed the showfor any length of time, you know,
(01:03):
I do struggle with somechronic illness and some other things,
but then I got up and I waslike, you know, instead of the normal
inspirational motivationalstuff wrapped around some deep, like
science and different things,let's just have an open, honest discussion
with some practical tips onwhat do you do when you feel too
(01:24):
heavy or too down to do anything.
So as we dive into thisepisode, we want to make sure that
we first recognize thatfeeling heavy, feeling depression,
things like that, is anatural, normal experience in this
thing we call life.
That is not something that is unusual.
If anybody have ever told youthat your depression is not normal,
(01:45):
they are lying to you.
Depression at some point,whether it be seasonal or environmental
or situational, does happen.
So we need to accept it, butwe also need to understand that we
need to do something about it.
Now, one side note, there areclinical depression, which is different
than just seasonal orsituational depression.
(02:07):
We want to make sure we notethat because that takes medical diagnosis
and that takes medical therapyand just different things to navigate
that conversation.
But for today, the whole thingwe want to context this with is if
you feel heavy, downdepressed, and you don't want to
create, you don't want to getout there, you don't want to do anything,
(02:28):
what do you do?
And so, with that being said,why do we feel heavy?
And the first thing is divinginto the psychology of it.
Your chronic stress that youhave been avoiding, that I have been
avoiding, has gotten tocritical mass.
This is where the nervoussystem gets stuck in Fight or flight.
(02:48):
This is where we are.
We're fried.
That's really what it comesdown to.
We are fried because we neveradequately coped with the stress
that we were under.
So we experience these timesof heaviness because it's our nervous
system screaming at us.
We need to do something aboutthis because we're our fight orf
flight mechanism is flipped on.
(03:10):
And this is something we haveto make sure we understand the signs.
Signs like, you're tired, youmaybe have brain fog.
Depression doesn't always meanyou're crying.
I mean, we get thisunderstanding like, oh, he's depressed
because he's crying.
That's not the case.
Sometimes depression isfatigue or lack of any type of want
to do anything.
Sometimes it's you don't wantto get up and actually get out of
(03:32):
bed.
Sometimes you just zone out ona video game and you're just doing
the thing because the numbnesshas set in.
And these are all warningsigns that we have to make sure we're
understanding and seeing atleast and putting them before God,
getting a therapist if we needit, but doing something about it.
Because if we ignore thewarning signs, we move from these
(03:54):
places of heaviness toburnout, to some sort of medical
condition to some sort ofhealth condition.
But we want to avoid that.
So that was what we're goingto start with.
Understanding of thepsychological groundwork.
Biblically, we see this too.
Psalm 42.
5 says, this is David saying,why my soul are you downcast?
(04:18):
Why so disturbed within me?
Pour your hope in or put yourhope in God.
This is what he says.
So here's a man after God'sown heart who is completely weighed
down.
He's heavy.
We see this with Elijah, whohad this massive victory over the
prophets, and then he's foundin a cave depressed, and God is feeding
(04:41):
him and taking care of him.
So.
So we do see this soulheaviness throughout scripture.
So if you're listening todayand you say, I feel broken, I feel
lost, I feel so tired thatrest won't help.
I feel all of these things, Ihave to tell you, this isn't weakness.
It's a human response toprolonged weight that you've been
(05:02):
carrying and never dealing with.
And I've got to make sure thatwe understand that you are feeling
the heaviness because we've.
You have not dealt with it,because I know I have been somebody
like that as well, where thelonger we put off it, the more it
comes back against us.
And you're not broken, you're human.
(05:23):
And as humans, we've got tomake sure that we are maintaining
the temple that God has putour souls in.
So with that being said, herewe go.
We're going to dive into some practicality.
So the question we often askwhen I want to give up, what do I
do?
Do I just lean into it andgive up?
Do I follow the temptation and quit?
(05:45):
Do I?
Or do I get tools or somethingthat can say, here's what I can do
in order to get through this,get over this, get, navigate this
and things like that.
Now, first and foremost,before we dive into the acronym I
created for you today, I willtell you, and I've got a precursor
this, that if you needtherapy, get therapy.
(06:06):
We do promote and say therapyis a viable option for Christians.
If you've ever been told thatthat is not like that's somehow against
your faith, you have been lied to.
Get if you need therapy, goafter it.
Let's dive into this acronym,which I'm calling rise.
Because when we feel low, wewant to rise above it.
(06:26):
And that way you can do somethings on your own for self care.
So the first one in the RISEacronym is R. And that's for remember
your why.
Now, in business we talk about this.
Remember your why.
Because this is the thing thatdrives you.
But I also want to say this issomething very important in our personal
lives.
Because remembering our why,why we do this, why we show up, why
(06:48):
we wake up, why we don't endour life, this is extremely important.
Here's Hebrews, Hebrews 12:2for the joy set before him, Jesus
endured the cross.
He didn't fixate on the pain.
He didn't fixate on the traumaof it.
He fixated on or he anchoredhimself in the why he was doing it.
(07:09):
So when you and I are goingthrough something heavy, just go
back to the place of whatRemember your calling.
What did God say to me?
What is he saying to me?
What is he calling me to?
Remember that calling.
Because that is going to bethe fuel you'll need to show up to
either take care of yourself.
That is still showing up.
(07:30):
Self care is showing up andtaking care of yourself or showing
up like this and giving you apodcast episode around something
you may be struggling with oryou know, if you need.
If you want to start apodcast, I'm helping.
Happy to help you start that.
Reach out to me.
Jim Leadwith jim.com Butyou've got to remember your why.
And so and for some of youguys, your why is your Children,
(07:52):
some of you guys, your why isyour legacy what you're building
to leave to your next generation.
Your why may be to being ableto stand in crowds to do this.
Whatever that why is, it's not stupid.
It's not less than.
Don't compare your why.
Remember your why when youfeel low.
(08:13):
The second thing is I inviteGod and others into the problem.
Now, Ecclesiastes 4 saidreminds us two are better than one.
See, we don't fight isolation,loneliness and heaviness by ourselves.
We fight it with friends.
We fight it with God.
And so when we, when we reallyget into this, what we do, you and
(08:37):
I and what psychology hasshown us that when something hard
or heavy hits us, we want to isolate.
And this could be a traumaresponse because we are in fight
orf flight.
And the trauma response couldbe, I don't trust myself or I don't
trust others when I'm vulnerable.
So let me do this.
And what that this is, isrunning into the room, locking it
(08:59):
until you feel better.
That is not how we fight our battles.
As a Christian, and especiallyin the business world, when we step
up, we think we can take onthe world, hide from it a little
bit and come back and take it on.
This is not how we fight our battles.
How we fight our battles is in community.
Read the entire New Testament.
(09:20):
It goes back to community.
And if you are running fromcommunity, you're running from God's
plan on how to push you, howto grow you, how to speak to you,
and how to rise.
Rise you above the things thatyou're facing.
We invite God into the processand then we invite our dear friends.
Not every friend.
Don't go on social media beinglike, hey, I feel like this today
(09:43):
so that you can get theselittle dopamine hits and make yourself
feel better, Right?
Like on your birthday when youget 500 people saying happy birthday.
No, this is not what this is.
You get the two or threepeople who are going to lift you
up in a way that's going to bevery unique to you and your friendship.
And they do it because theycare, not because they want something
(10:03):
from you.
So in our, in our acronym ofrise, the next thing is S. This is.
Small steps matter.
Small steps matter becausepsychology shows us that even tiny
steps, tiny actions liketaking a shower, fixing your bed,
going for a walk, or writing asentence, maybe you get in there
(10:25):
and you read one scripture, man.
What I mean, one scripture.
It's one verse.
Maybe you just write one thingin your journal.
Maybe you're gonna type onepost that day.
Every little action stacks can.
And this can lift your moodbecause each action completed represents
a win.
And every win that you gainwill lift your mood.
(10:48):
As long as you're not on theclinical side, that's a different
conversation.
I got to remind you of that.
But every win that you stackcan lift your mood, change the way
you feel, and allow you toengage in a deeper way.
This is called behavioralactivation therapy.
It's small, but it's powerful.
(11:09):
And I want you to hear thatbecause you know, you hear it online
anyway.
They're like, take action,take action.
Stop overthinking, Take action.
But psychology tells us thereis some truth to that.
So instead of living in ourheads in isolation, map out small
steps.
They may seem insignificant toyour thought process, but they are
(11:30):
never insignificant to yournervous system.
So I want you to make surethat when you feel low and you want
to rise above it, take thesmall actions, no matter how many
or how little they are.
Every little action stacks andevery stack means at some point,
there's a tipping point whereit changes everything.
And what you felt before nowis not how you're feeling.
(11:53):
And then the last thing.
And this is more of a place ofradical acceptance.
And this is our E, which isexpect es and flows.
Now, I am huge on thisconversation around ebbs and flows
because healing is not linear.
Feelings don't followpatterns, right?
We have patterns.
Every one of us have patterns.
We live by, speak by ebbs,behave by.
(12:15):
But feelings can just throwchaos into all of that.
And there are good days, thereare bad days.
There are really bad days, andthey're really good days.
But grace gives us thepermission to ride the wave instead
of forcing ourselves to be on.
You know, the quotes here foryou guys who are just listening,
quote unquote on.
(12:36):
For you guys in YouTube on, right.
All the time.
But see, we take scripturesout of.
Out of context, like, be readyin season and all season to say,
in season and out of season tosay, hey, we need to be on all the
time.
No, you do not need to be onall the time.
You need to be present.
But present looks different inevery situation.
(12:57):
And you don't need to be likethe master of the wave every time.
Sometimes the surfer spillsand gets wiped out.
Sometimes they ride the barreldown the.
Down the pike.
You like this, right?
This is my side note oflearning surfing terms.
I am not a surfer, by the way,but they ride that pipe down and
it looks cool as anything.
And they're having A good daybecause they're like, yeah, they
(13:19):
just got that woo.
You know, both are adequate,both are acceptable because we ride
the ebbs and flows.
And this is where we have topractice radical acceptance.
You cannot ride in ebb andflow without radical acceptance because
radical acceptance tells usthat we understand and accept.
There will be highs, therewill be lows.
I will have good days, I willhave bad days.
(13:42):
Bad.
But the es and flows of it isgoing to constantly shift, which
means my good day will notalways be my good day.
My bad day will not always bemy bad day.
Everything I go through,everything I feel has the opportunity
to flip, and we have to livein the radical acceptance of that.
Because when I radicallyaccept that things can go either
(14:02):
way, they can change in aminute, that, you know what, I. I
can just accept and be like,I'm okay, it's going to be okay.
If I'm in a really bad day, Ican accept that it's going to be
a good day at some point todayor tomorrow or maybe the next day,
if I'm in a really good day, Ican even accept that, you know what?
I'm in a really good day.
And at some point something'sgoing to come and try to mess my
(14:23):
day up.
And that's okay too.
We ride the ebbs and flowsbecause we're trusting God to bring
us to a place of maturity.
And in doing that, we can restand not be all the.
All on, all the time so thatwe can give our nervous system a
break, a rest, a respite, inorder to take us out of fight and
flight and be in rest and remember.
(14:45):
And if you've listened to thisshow, I don't.
It doesn't matter if you're anentrepreneur, a leader, a business
owner, you know, a creator, anauthor, a speaker, whatever you put
your moniker or your title on.
The thing is, is that we haveto trust God and God tells us to
rest.
So we lead our business from aplace of rest, not from a place of
(15:06):
always being on.
So whenever you feel likegiving up or laying low or isolating,
remember the acronym of rise.
Remember your why invite Godand others into the situation.
Small steps matter and go withthe ebbs and flows.
And as a bonus, I want to giveyou one more tactic, one more tip,
(15:28):
one more thought, because I gothrough this a lot.
And just to give you the basisof somebody who is diagnosed with
complex ptsd, who also isdiagnosed with something that's called
pdd, which is persistentdepression disorder, and who also
loves Jesus with all of hisheart that we do have these things
(15:48):
where we're dealing with theissues of life before a holy God.
And we watch God change andhelp us and transform us and get
us through the low days.
Because it's in our weaknessGod's perfected in his power and
his presence.
And it's in our good dayswhere we can walk side by side with
a friend and the friend wehave in Jesus.
I want to give you this onelast thing because I live this, the
(16:11):
rise I, you know, and I livethis other thing I'm about to tell
you because it's the, it's themind, heart, body check in kind of
thing.
But it's a tool I use andhere's what it is.
Let's just get into it.
So with the mind, I alwayskind of when I'm feeling down, and
today as just transparency.
I was feeling really downtoday just because I can't tell you
(16:32):
why.
It's just happens.
And, and with the mind, it'swhat thought is weighing me down.
Like I really try to sit thereand reflect on.
And I ask the Holy Spirit,help me understand what thought is
weighing me down.
Then I ask, is it true?
Is this thought true?
Or does my body believe it's true?
Because they are not the samething, my friends.
(16:53):
And can I reframe what I'm believing?
Because if it's not true, Ican reframe it to the truth of this,
of the Word of God.
If it is true, then what am I believing?
That's caus it to havefriction in my body, that or my mind.
So what do I need to let go ofin order to come in alignment with
the truth?
And you know, and then itcomes back to the mind thing with
(17:15):
Philippians 4.
8.
Whatever is true, whatever isnoble, whatever is right, whatever
is pure, think on thesethings, right?
And then later, somewhere inthat, those verses it says, and this
will, you know, the peace ofGod that passes all understanding
will guard your heart.
And then we know in Proverbsthat guard your heart with all.
With all diligence, for out ofit flows the issues of life.
(17:37):
So if I'm.
If my mind is often heavy andI go into the.
Through that process, is it true?
What am I believing?
What is weighing me down?
And I really dive into that.
And then I say, okay, of that,what can I really think on?
And if I think on thesethings, the peace of God that passes
all our understanding willguard my heart.
And if my heart is guardedwith all diligence, Then the issues
(17:58):
of life will begin to settle.
The second thing is the heart connection.
Now, because your mind, yourheart, this is all interconnected.
You are not just a mind, bodyand heart, or mind, body, and soul
just kind of jumbled in there.
You are connected.
So the heart connection is.
What connection do I needright now?
So instead of running, who doI need right now that can cheer me
(18:21):
up?
Who do I need right now thatcan sit with me?
Do I need a friend?
Do I need a journal?
Do I need to sit with God in prayer?
Or do I need all the above?
And these are things that wehave to really figure out to connect
our heart.
And I want to make mention nowJob's friends gets a bad rap.
They're like, yeah, you'veprobably been in church or heard
it on there.
And everybody preaches againstJob's friends.
(18:43):
But I want to tell yousomething about interesting the Holy
Spirit showed me about Job andhis friends is that in the beginning
of Job's Friends, they satwith him for seven days ripping hit
their clothes, you know, whichis a sign of great grief.
And they sat in silence forseven days with Job just being present
before they even got into the whole.
(19:03):
Maybe you did this, and maybeyou did this trying to have that
discourse.
Sometimes you need a friend tojust sit with you.
Sometimes you just need tocall somebody.
Hey, can you come over?
I don't want to say a word.
Let's just eat pizza together.
Let's just have ice creamtogether and just sit there in silence.
I just need somebody present.
Maybe it is the journal.
Maybe it is just prayer.
Maybe it's all the above.
(19:23):
You need to ask yourself, whatconnection do I need to make right
now?
And the last thing is the body.
And this is a big question for me.
And I've taught my wife thisover the years because she struggles
with some mental illness.
And I.
And I ask her, and I tell her,whenever you're feeling off dysregulated
and things, ask yourself, whatdo I need right now?
What does my body need?
(19:44):
Do I need more sleep?
Do I need better nutrition?
Do I need to move?
Most of us need to move morebecause we sit in front of these
computers and on TV screensall day long.
We need to move.
Do we need a break?
Do we need to do something?
Do we need to fish?
Do I need to go out in nature?
My wife loves nature.
I like it when it's cooleroutside and a little bit at dusk
(20:04):
or dawn.
But either way, what does yourbody need?
And then go, give it to it.
Like for me, all of this, I gothrough this process and I realized
today I need adventure again.
It's been so long since I've traveled.
Matter of fact, the last timeI traveled out, you know, inside
the US it was for the Spartan races.
And then my body justcompletely, it collapsed.
(20:26):
And so I haven't had theability to travel because of the
sickness I've been under.
But I want to travel again.
I want to, you know, I want toplan to Hawaii, I want to plan a
trip to Iceland and I want toplan a trip to these places that
I want to see with my eyes.
The aurora borealis is like adream for me.
I also know I need to start a hobby.
And because I'm a multipassionate and probably have a touch
(20:49):
of ADHD and a littlegiftedness, I want to learn how to
forge.
I forged a knife one time andnow I want to buy the whole set and
forge in my garage.
But I'm in the middle of acity so I wonder if they'll let you
do that.
And if not, can we sell thehouse and go live in a countryside
so I can forge?
These are things that speak tomy soul.
These are cravings I'm having.
(21:09):
Now I am a creative, so I'mcreating, creating creative things
that involve people becauseI'm a people person that involves
people, travel, adventure and creativity.
That may not be you.
You may just need a booksomewhere in the world with a cup
of coffee and that's all you need.
That's okay too.
But I'm going to tell you, gofind something life giving and go
do it.
(21:30):
And you know, science backsthis up because novelty and hobbies
boost dopamine and actuallyhelp rewire our brains with through
neuroplasticity.
And because of that, and I'lljust give you the basis of that,
what it gives is it gives yourbrain hope again.
It rewires it to tell youyou're not trash, you're not gonna
(21:53):
live in a negative world.
You have hope.
And for us as a believer, wefind our hope in Jesus Christ.
So let's go ahead and startdoing the things we need.
Rise above it, mind, heart,body, and include it with that.
And go out and live theadventure that you've been telling
yourself you're unable to do.
You get one life in thisworld, you.
(22:13):
And there's few things that weget to do or we're mandated to do.
One of those things is toshare the message of the gospel.
We are mandated to do those things.
The other things you get topick where that is, when that is,
how that is, and you followthe Holy Spirit on an adventure of
a lifetime.
And just before we go, I wantto do invite you in to an email list
(22:35):
of growing about I think I'vegot over a little 4, 400 plus people
on this email list that I'mworking on sending an email out every
week.
It's going to include journalprompts, it's going to include some
dep you don't hear on theepisode regularly, some Bible studies,
some business advice, somecreativity and it's just me getting
to know you and us building a relationship.
You'd like to do that?
(22:55):
Go to leadwithjim.comforward/nl jump on the list.
Let's hang out together.
I would love to have you thereand just let's grow and see what
God's going to do together.
And as we close this episodeout, I'm so grateful that you've
made it this far.
If life feels heavy, if itfeels unbearable, just know the scripture.
I'm going to give you encouragement.
(23:16):
Scripture Matthew 11:28 Cometo me.
This is Jesus talking.
Come to me, all you who areweary and burdened, and I will give
you rest.
So if life is heavy, riseabove it.
Mind, body, soul, my heart, body.
Get into it with Jesus Christ.
Get his rest and then go outand do your day and I'll see you
(23:37):
on the next episode.
Host
Jim Burgoon
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