Let’s face it, we’re greedy. We can’t really be happy unless things are going more or less our way (though we may change what “our way” is if that seems to be the only way to cope). So it seems to me like you can save a lot of burnout by just doing what you enjoy in the first place.

Actually, there was a House episode to this effect. A doctor on the verge of curing cancer became ill and decided that life was too short to be so serious about the serious things. So instead, she decided to do what she wanted to do- cooking classes. She never went back to her cure, because she figured, other people with the energy can pick up where she left off. She has a life to live.

I’ll be real honest, “the common good” is way down there on the list of reasons I decided to study journalism. I will probably contribute to the common good somewhere along the line (hopefully more often than not), but I don’t think that’s justification to devote my life to something.

Think about your mentors in life. What common aspect did they share? I’m going to go out on a limb and say they had at least some sense of fun and excitement about what they did. I know all mine have. We simply perform better and longer when we enjoy what we’re doing.

I notice this thread through a lot of my younger friends, though, that they want to have a positive impact in the world. That’s why they’re doing what they’re doing. And I just have to ask, why? What do you mean? You don’t have to be documenting injustices in Africa to have a positive impact.

We are a global community, I’m aware. But I often think how we seem to be more concerned about what other people are doing or suffering at the expense of pulling our own lives together. It’s a self-righteous escape from our own unrewarding lives, I believe.

Now note, if you really want to (or believe you should) go aid Africa or fight world hunger or whatever, by all means, go for it. But I think your motive will have a huge impact in how effective you will be. If you’re doing it out of a misguided sense of “If I don’t help, I am a part of the problem,” that will wear you down. If you do it because you genuinely love the people and love what you’re doing to help them (obviously it won’t be roses all the time, but speaking generally), that’s awesome, and the energy you put into it will build on itself.