Cynicism is an attitude characterised by a general distrust of the motives of “others”. A cynic may have a general lack of faith or hope in people motivated by ambition, desire, greed, gratification, materialism, goals and opinions that a cynic perceives as vain, unobtainable or ultimately meaningless and therefore deserving of ridicule or admonishment.
Burnout according to the dictionary, becomes exhaustion through overwork. One of the components of burnout is cynicism. When one is overworked and not appreciated for the work, they have done that they tend to become cynics. Not being appreciated in the workplace is a common problem, though many organisations are now beginning to understand this phenomenon and are trying to take corrective measures. But are the measures being taken by them enough? That is a topic of another discussion, but at least it is a start, but what about our homemakers? Are they being appreciated? Most of the time they are not being appreciated.
We have always taken them for granted. They are our support system without them we would not be where we are today. They are turning into cynics and they will pass on this characteristic to the coming generation as they are the ones who lay the foundation for our children. They are any child’s first school. What the children learn from their parents is what sticks with them for their life. So please appreciate your homemakers. Most of the time you don’t even realise what they have gone through so that you could go that extra mile for your promotion. You got your promotion, what about them? Would you have been able to achieve all that you have if you had to look after the house, cook, and take the children to school and tuition while doing your job? Think about it.
Cynicism in burnout is the cynicism (or depersonalization) component that represents a motivational, interpersonal distancing dimension of burnout. Depersonalization refers to a negative, callous, or excessively detached response to various aspects of the job; cynicism refers to losing an emotional or cognitive involvement with work. Generally, both burnout and cynicism go hand in hand. These are all negative emotions that impact our lives negatively. This negativity often spills over into our personal life having a much wider impact than that only on ourselves, though even that is very bad.
Cynicism due to burnout is more common than we care to admit and we have to make a conscious effort to not go overboard with cynicism. We have all heard the saying that” every cloud has a silver lining”. It is true; we just have to look hard to find it. Cynicism stops us from finding it. So, try to be positive even when you can find nothing positive about a situation. Remember that the night is the darkest just before dawn. Just hold on, things will get better. You need to slow down to avoid being burnt out, but if you are positive things will look up again.
Keep that chin up
Better times are just around the corner.
Shalini
Get to know the Author!!