Workaholic: “Today, I maintain my involvement, but without forgetting myself.”
updated the 14 July 2015 à 18:32Are you a workaholic? Take a look at the testimony of Brigitte, 55 years old, manager of a leisure park, married, two children.
“I was a bulimic of work. I worked more than 15 hours a day. Once my children were asleep, I dived back into my files. I was born with a strong work ethic. My parents, both workers, taught me that nothing bad could happen if I had work. It became all the more vital when I found myself alone to raise my 2-year-old daughter. In parallel to this insatiable need for reassurance through professional over-activity, I needed to prove to myself and my family that a worker’s status is not genetically rooted. If I began at the bottom of the scale, it was necessary to me to become a manager. Four years ago, my second husband, who worked almost 24 hour/7 days, and exceeded his objectives, was fired from his job. I realised that neither skill nor disproportionate involvement at work were a guarantee or a protection. This episode was violent. My value system collapsed, leaving me with a feeling of total insecurity. I no longer had a crutch with which to support myself. However, I didn’t slow down, as I was poisoned. Two years ago, I burned out: I spent 15 days in bed, unable to take a shower or eat. I had accumulated so much stress and fatigue!
In a moment of clarity, I decided to lean on something else: me. I enrolled on a 15-day yoga training course in India. I rediscovered a sense of my surroundings and learnt to listen to my essential needs. The change in my work was immediate. I am as involved as I was before, but without forgetting myself; I delegate more, I let go. In particular, I take two days off a week, with four hours of yoga and meditation. This enables me to generate incredible energy on the days when I do work. Everything has changed; I look different, but I also look at others, even at the trees two metres from my home which I had not seen before. Unfortunately, my children are making the same mistakes: they work seven days a week.”
Marie La Marois
