Through a lengthy process of self-discovery, I have learned that I need to be constantly active throughout the day and not have too many idle periods where there is time where I am left to my own devices. Doing so only sets me up into my negative old patterns to the point where I fall into unhealthy habits and only cause the negative patterns to boil out of control to the point of the negative cycles happening.

In days we hear about autistic burnout, there are times when other comorbidities come into play and call out of order the fact that it can be a challenge that not being rigid with my routine can set me off. This is never discounting that autistic burnout is in fact a real thing. I have been extremely fortunate to have been able to live my life the way that I do. But as an autistic adult living independently, it can be a challenge to understand and accept that I do need to be able to keep engaged throughout the day as oversleeping can set me up for a negative pattern.

It has taken me a process of first believing that I was burnt out from issues that I was experiencing and that they were making me spin in a whirlwind of negative activity to the point where it was becoming unhealthy, and things were not being able to be accomplished on my own. It is the fact that I needed to understand the importance of what it takes for me to live my best life and that is having a day where there are things that need to be done or where there needs to be something where I am not left to my own devices.

Accepting the need to be constantly engaged throughout the day has not been something that has been easy to accept for me when there has been so much of a push by social media of the term of autistic burnout. Yes, there have been times where I have been dysregulated, but that has also been since I have not been caring for myself properly and in turn this had caused me to react negatively towards others that it made me felt like I had to run away from a situation because I did not know what an outcome was.

Our own journey is just that, our own journey and whatever that experience entails, including what is needed to take care of our very own mental health in the ways that are necessary for us to thrive in a world where we need to be able to be well is not up to others to make that call for us. It is knowing what is needed by professionals and at least trying their advice because they should know best how to address our situations. If you feel that the advice does not work for you, then report it back. But it is important to at least try it, especially if you are honest about what you are doing, and it is noted to be unhealthy for you. It means that you must push the envelope and try to do things differently so that you can try to do what is necessary to better yourself.

Sometimes, we are bull-headed, and we do not want to follow the advice of the professionals we share our lives with because we know that what they are saying honestly a way that helps rectify the situation and we are too habitual in nature to not see that we need to do what they suggest because they know what they need more than ourselves. More than what social media says. It is knowing for me that need to be active and engaged to thrive in a world that is not often made for me and that means that I must at least try things that may seem different because what is working is not helping the situation.

Each person’s journey on this planet is their own to discover and that we at times just want to do what we want without considering the effects of what it brings to us along with others. It means that sometimes we need to do what we need to do to work at finding solutions to what has long been problematic for us towards working to find solutions to bettering ourselves.