Your pro-life advocacy used to always keep you charging ahead in your faith.
It used to add a pep to your step. Pro-life advocacy was the top thing you looked forward to each morning when you woke up.
But not lately.
Not when the consolations of your pro-life advocacy have been few and far between. Now the daily grind is becoming a chore.
The hard work is not always apparent in how it is paying off. In fact, the pro-life advocacy may feel as though it is adding years to your life. New wrinkles and gray hairs seem to be popping up in places they were not before.
Sounds as though you are experiencing pro-life advocacy burnout. Let’s discuss a few remedies for this.
(For those in the pro-life movement who have yet to experience a drought of spiritual consolation, just wait—it will come soon enough.)
Here are my three tips to avoiding pro-life advocacy burnout.
1. Don’t Let Your Pro-Life Advocacy Define You
This may seem like a no-brainer, but it is listed first here for a reason.
I have met many folks who seem so preoccupied with their pro-life advocacy that they forget to develop many friendships.
I am fully aware thousands of babies are led to surgical slaughter day after day in this country. And I agree we need to inform as many people about this ghastly fact as possible.
But what if I told you that your identity need not be wrapped up in the pro-life cause?
Do not forget that you are a human being; you are not a human doing.
Who you are as a person is determined by the virtues you exemplify. Who you are, more importantly, is determined by Whose you are. Namely, you are a child of God’s. By virtue of your baptism, you are made a co-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17).
Do not lose your identity in your pro-life advocacy to the detriment of losing your soul. The devil would happily keep you busy, busy, busy doing God’s work, so long as you forget to pray. Because Satan knows, eventually you will lose your power source.
2. Prevent Your Pro-Life Advocacy from Becoming Too Personal
This tip can be tough to implement at times.
Those of us who have counseled men and women considering an abortion often learn their names. We invest our time, our talent, and sometime our treasure into helping such confused folks.
If we learn someone we had talked to for an hour still remains on the fence, or worse, about their decision, we can become discouraged.
Don’t.
Discouragement is the devil’s tool against you.
“If you are discouraged it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own power. Your self-sufficiency, your selfishness and your intellectual pride will inhibit His coming to live in your heart because God cannot fill what is already full. It is as simple as that,” so says Blessed Mother Teresa.
Be humble. Let go and let God.
3. Remember to Take Time Out for Recreation
For some, this tip may appear the easiest to implement on this list, but for others it may be the most difficult.
We must remember to take time out to recharge our batteries. We need to be able to walk away from the prayer chains, the email correspondence, and the rally marches.
God commands us to rest (Exodus 20:8-11). He wishes for us to recreate.
You know, “re” + “create.”
If we do not take time out to put a smile to our face every now and again, we’re bound to do more harm than good in our pro-life advocacy. We will likely be a drain to those around us. Without a cheerful disposition, our complaints will fall on tired ears.
Take time to spend with your family. Take a vacation. Better yet, go on a retreat or a pilgrimage to a holy site.
Make sure you are calling your mom (or adult children) often to check in on them. Visit friends. Go on a date with your spouse more than once a year.
Get back to fishing. Take up knitting. Get a hobby.
Don’t let the pro-life advocacy become your end all, be all.
After all, you are a tool in God’s arsenal. But He does not depend upon you alone.
Every now and again, a pencil needs to be sharpened. Lest it become dull and useless.
YOUR TURN
Does this article hit home for any of my pro-life readers out there?
Do you have any other tips on how to avoid pro-life advocacy burnout?
Please add a comment below!
