I’ve recently been helping out with two programs at my local parish (Catholic Church), one on Mondays and one on Wednesdays.

The one on Wednesdays has finished and has a hiatus until January, when a new course begins. The one on Monday has three sessions left.

I feel tired and a bit burned out, and I have some decisions to make. I know I don’t want to take part in the course that meets on Mondays when it starts up again in January, which leaves me with the Wednesday course.

I’ve been active helping with this course twice a year for 2.5 years now. I can definitely take a break this upcoming Spring session if I need to. I’m just not sure if I need to.

I guess I can gauge things more after Thanksgiving–to see how I’m feeling, where my writing stands, what time I’ll need outside of my day job to devote to getting book two ready for publication, etc.

In addition to determining how the situation looks regarding book two, I’ll need to consider whether God might be asking me to step up and help out at Church again, regardless of book two’s outlook and whether or not that involves pushing back the release I’m shooting for around July/August.

This is discernment in the Ignatian sense. It’s a necessary and useful tool in (the spiritual) life.