Reflection: About ten days ago, my left hip decided to let me know it still exists, and what’s more, that it was very unhappy with me. Maybe, from time to time, you get similar messages from various parts of your body.

I responded by returning to my practice of starting every day with 20 minutes of yoga, with special attention to stretching my back and legs. I’m happy to say it helped. My hip is still grumbling, but no longer sending hate mail and emergency alerts my way.

The experience has me thinking about prevention and its place in our lives – both for physical and mental wellbeing.

• We know that frequent communication with others keeps us from growing apart and stumbling about in a haze of distance and disenchantment.
• We know that putting gas in the car before the empty light flickers keeps us from running out of fuel in rush hour traffic on the freeways of life.
• We know that choosing fruits and veggies instead of chips and cookies keeps us from packing on the pounds.
• We know that vaccinations are helpful in preventing disease.
• We know that taking a break before we’re exhausted maximizes energy and short circuits burnout.

We know these things. But when we take our wellbeing for granted, we forget how important these actions are.

Action: And so, I invite you to give this question some thought this week. Where in your world could you invest an ounce of prevention to short circuit a pound of pain?

Quotes Of The Week: Benjamin Franklin’s old 1736 chestnut still rings true: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” These days, the quote is most often used with respect to health, however Franklin was actually addressing fire safety. When it comes to burnout, methinks the two arenas combine quite well!

If you’re interested in a bit of history around this quote and the origins of organized firefighting, prompted by Franklin, check out this brief backgrounder.

“I’ve had to learn how to listen to my body over the years and figure out how it all works together. I’m not invincible, so focusing on training my whole body and injury prevention have been extremely important.” – Megan Rapinoe

Resource Of The Week: This Harvard Business Review article by Rob Cross, To be Happier at Work, Invest More In Relationships, is definitely worth a read. Cross describes how strong relationships have a positive impact on both happiness and career satisfaction. Enhancing these connections is a great way of preventing burnout and malaise at work and beyond.

Readers Write: Thanks to Pause reader, ED, for another point of view on last month’s message, How About Being More Spontaneous:

I am a scheduler, not because my time is so precious or because I am so busy, but because I need time to mentally prepare for a visit or lunch – even with friends and family.I am an introvert and the idea of someone dropping by without warning is very stressful.

Most of the time, I can adapt if someone shows up or calls unexpectedly, but I definitely feel more relaxed and able to enjoy a visit and truly connect with my friend when it is planned.

If I know they are coming, I can get myself into a social mindset and restrict other activity so that I’m fully “charged” and ready to spend time with them.