I want to see the broader horizon, I want the grander view. I want to show you something. So you see, you too might be caught in this balancing act of wanting, needing, to really live while at the same time thinking that you are trapped at its worst and just pushed along at its best by a daily routine that can lead to self-preservation, an attitude of surviving. And maybe what we all really need is a morning wake up call of the sort Lucy gave Charlie - a little verbal shock treatment with a somersault. The call can come in many different forms.
People do grind themselves into the ground.
In fact, the survivor mentality is often a first sign that burnout is likely. When I first read Masten's poem, I thought he was being critical of people who claim to be burned out. But that not his point at all. You see, it's more than doing too much. We can get into such routines, routines that send us drifting without really knowing it.