Imagine a device designed for normal voltage supply, say 110 volts. It works its purpose when plugged at an average 110-volt outlet. But when you suddenly plug it to a 220-volt source from another country, you know what will happen—circuit or electrical overload.
The device has a normal current/amperage for which it is designed to work with the normal voltage source to produce the normal wattage. Depending on the variance between actual and recommended voltage, the device might just shut off, produce a burning smell. At extremes, it may even start fire. When the voltage becomes too high, the device breaks and explodes, because it cannot handle the voltage.
Now, let’s go for the slow burn. When you gradually increase the voltage supply, the device detects the variance from its expectations. Warning signs would include dimming lights, increasing wattage consumption, or overheating. Because the device knows its purpose, it may continue doing its purpose even with increased pressure and depreciating parts. With a depleting or even steady resistance, it will yield to a higher current to adjust to the voltage. The device burns down inside slowly, its internal parts being melted. Not to mention that an increase in voltage actually has a multiplier. If there is a breaker or fuse or any protector inside, it just stops the device so that it rejects any incoming voltage supply, even if it becomes lower than required.
Now, apply all of these to our minds.
Using the same thought orders, imagine this:
You are a human designed for a normal life wherein you know what to expect in terms of information inflow. You know your daily activities, what kind of resources you need to prepare, and an expectation of inputs you need to process in your brain. When the expected optimal levels of information are met, you function as a normal human being. But when you suddenly receive a surge of pressures, expectations, workload, deadlines, and data, more than what you prepared for, expected for and can actually handle, you will have a mental overload.
You have a natural pace for performing your tasks and goals, with a reasonable expectation of inevitable chaos, to produce the outputs expected of you and perform your personal duties. Depending on the variance between actual and recommended pressure, you might just shut off, burn out, or explode. Take the extreme like what we did with the device analogy earlier. When the pressure becomes too high, you break and explode, because you cannot perform more than your personal limitations.
Again, with the slow burn. Assuming that the additional pressures are not sudden, but gradual, you detect that. But most of the time, considering human factors such as empathy and hierarchy, we usually ignore or stay silent even if we do detect such variances. We usually think that we can handle this much if essential to growth.
That is good, if such gradual changes are helping you grow and they stay within your growth potential. But, not always. Most of the time, we become blind on the question, “is this normal growth, or are we being discounted?” You can ignore that with your mind, but it will manifest in your body anyway. Warning signs include slower thinking capacity and response, overworking to catch up, or catching diseases easier.
Because you have already set your goals from the beginning, or at least this morning when you woke up, you may continue doing what you are supposed to do, even with the higher stress and pressure and even during sick days. Your mind may even trick you with your superhuman syndrome, so you surrender to the burnout culture. With a depleting health, or even if you maintain your good health, that health is originally prepared for the initial normal expectations, and you know that. Soon enough, your body will crumble. Or if not your body, then your soul, your self-worth, your values.
You know that an increase in adversary does not damage you at face value, right? It multiplies, like a domino effect, and damages other parts of your life. For example, because of your overworking, you become estranged with your family. Or you miss out on vacations and trips. Or you just forgo your workout sessions or even quality sleep, and reallocate the time to your job. When you are overworking, you are not just “working for more hours than normal” per se. You are sacrificing things that should not have been disturbed.
If your values finally hit you and you happen to value yourself, you will just cry, breathe, internalize, reflect and realize. But not return to where and what you stopped. You burn out. It would even be worse if you really short-circuit. The world can negotiate with you to return, and trade off some of the pressure to the level you initially planned for. But even if you go back to the initial expectations, your resources (stamina, passion, mental capacity, etc.) is already depleted. No amount of tradeoff or even money can compensate for that. “Too bad, too late—I already died.”
The brain suffers, then surrenders.
The brain discards this and that.
The brain shuts off.
The brain rejects.
Doorslam.
Mental overload, folks. It’s not that difficult to understand.
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