Despite all of our differences, one thing that we can just about all agree on is the fact that we want to feel more joy in our lives.

This episode concludes our series on Emotional Intelligence, wrapping up with the last of the 'Inside Out' emotions, and we wanted to save the best for last. Joy is fun, we'll be ending on a high note, this will be an energetic and easy discussion... but when we got together, we just had to admit: this wasn't as easy a topic as we thought it would be.

What does it take to feel more joy? Is feeling more joy a goal that can actually be attained?

We want to talk about what joy is, and why viewing joy as an outcome driven pursuit can actually be detrimental for our mental health. In a lot of ways, joy is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. We get caught up with what our idea of joy us, what we need in our lives to feel that joy, and because of that, we lose track of those present moments.

We talk about how we can feel a greater sense of joy by being more present in any particular moment, and how to shift our way of thinking: instead of focusing on some big end-game goal, to rather focus on what we can do to make our present reality more agreeable to us.

We've all spent time grinding through a big game, one that takes us an extensive amount of time and challenges us, and often times we think: I'll be happy when I complete it... but is that truly the case? Often times we're met with a feeling of: now what? Let's make sure our lives don't end up like that.

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Tattoos
Produced by White Hot

Side Quests tune provided by https://pixabay.com
Neon Gaming by dopestuff

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Do you feel low on energy? Do you feel like the grind is giving you diminishing returns? Are you feeling less enthusiasm, and deriving less joy from those activities that usually excite you? Chances are, you're experiencing burnout, and we're here to talk to you about that.

Chances are, most of us have felt some degree of burnout at some point in our lives, where we've been pushing too hard for too long, where we aren't having our needs met while consistently feeling the need to give 110% to those around us. 

We are bombarded with messages that glorify grind culture, and almost guilt us into feeling as though we need to be constantly creating and taking action to move forward with our time, but we need to slow down, we need to listen to our bodies, and we need to take care to prioritize ourselves.

On this episode, we're going to talk about burnout, what it looks like, what it feels like, and what can cause it. Understanding how burnout takes root, and how we can recognize the signs before it takes too great a toll on us is important, but even more important is addressing the steps we can take to alleviate these feelings.

Justin introduces us to something he calls an Energetic Leak, and explains how these little, seemingly minor things can add up and drain us, further accelerating and contributing to our burnout.

If you're feeling these sentiments, just know that you aren't alone; these feelings are normal and common, and taking time to express these feelings to others is important. We even feel it as well, and that's why we're switching to a biweekly episode format, to give us more time to rest, and focus on creating quality content, ensuring we come into every episode and discussion rested and properly prepared as podcasters.

Give this episode a listen, and feel free to reach out to talk with us about your feelings of burnout, how you handle it, and don't be scared to admit that you could use a chance to step back and focus on meeting your needs.

Beat provided by https://freebeats.io
Tattoos
Produced by White Hot

Side Quests tune provided by https://pixabay.com
Neon Gaming by dopestuff

Join the party! Need DPS

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E-mail: rlrpgpod@gmail.com

"Big girls don't cry."

"Real men don't cry."

Grow up. Drop the macho, tough person act and give yourself some permission to actually feel sad. We get so hung up with wanting to feel good all of the time, and wanting to look composed, put together, and strong that any challenge to this is something we avoid and suppress, for fears of being seen as unsuccessful, or weak.

Sadness is not an easy emotion to face: it brings with it pain, and feelings of loss. It challenges us when we face it head on, and if ignored, it can fester, grow, and eat away at us. If you ask us, real weakness is running from our sadness, and not acknowledging it. It takes courage to face difficult challenges, and it is from these challenges that we grow and level up.

On this episode, we're going to talk about facing sadness head on, and what we can learn from it. The insight provided to us by our ever-growing Emotional Intelligence score tells us that sadness, like all our other emotions isn't something that we should ignore, but rather that it is something we all should be in touch with and look to learn from. We'll talk about some of our experiences with sadness, what we were able to learn, what tools we used to face it and how growing from it made us all stronger.

Like we say in our intro: It's dangerous to go alone, and we want to remind you that sadness can be a particularly difficult emotion to face without support. Don't be afraid to reach out, to seek help and support when you are struggling. There is courage and strength in recognizing the need for aid from another, and taking that first step of vulnerability. Let's all show some support and kindness not only to one another, but also to ourselves.

Beat provided by https://freebeats.io
Tattoos
Produced by White Hot

Side Quests tune provided by https://pixabay.com
Neon Gaming by dopestuff

Join the party! Need DPS

Discord: https://discord.gg/mvNhFzfdqt

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/rlrpgpod/

Threads : https://www.threads.net/@rlrpgpod

E-mail: rlrpgpod@gmail.com