Five Peas to Pick When Overwhelm Overtakes You - Betty Streff
41243
post-template-default,single,single-post,postid-41243,single-format-standard,ajax_fade,page_not_loaded,,select-child-theme-ver-2.2.2,select-theme-ver-2.2,smooth_scroll,wpb-js-composer js-comp-ver-6.10.0,vc_responsive

Five Peas to Pick When Overwhelm Overtakes You

overwhelm crazy

Five Peas to Pick When Overwhelm Overtakes You

I had the great fortune of spending bonus time with our grandkids this weekend and feeding them! It’s something I love to do. Food has always one of my best love languages. Wouldn’t have traded it for anything but I ran out of time to write.

 

Spring is coming fast and and the pace of life always ramps up about this time of year. So, I reached back into my archives and I’m re-posting an excerpt from something I wrote about a year ago. A timely reminder!

 

Life’s busy. We shrug our shoulders, numbly resigned to living in a mental blur. We fool ourselves into thinking when we just get through__________(fill in the blank here), things will “settle down.” Aren’t we cute that way?

 

People today, especially women, often find themselves in a perpetual state of chaos and over-commitment. It’s no longer limited to occasional spells when things get crazy, we expect that. Nowadays the hamster wheel never stops. The situation has gotten out of control and it’s become dangerous to health and emotional well-being.

 

A FEW THINGS YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW WHEN OVERWHELM STRIKES

 

“Half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough.” ~ Josh Billings

 

Overwhelm once was a verb but it’s become a noun to describe a chronic condition. It used to be occasional, acute. There’s nothing cute about it anymore. It’s chronic. We can, however, do some things to preserve our sanity and navigate the stormy seas a little more successfully. I’m going to borrow a technique from my clever speaker friend Pat McGill and to help you remember, I’m sending you to pick some p’s.

 

P’S BE WITH YOU!

 

Pause Just when it seems you need to go faster, stop. Get up, walk around. Get a drink of water. Stretch. Rub your hands together briskly until they warm up. When you sit down again, place your warm hands over your eyes for a little bit. It works like a control-alt-delete does when your computer gets wonky. Good job!

 

Pay attention Eliminate as many distractions as you can so you can stay focused. Know what derails you and do what you can to stay on course. For most of us, it means turning off other devices and tempting websites. Close those tabs!

 

Poo-Poo Perfection Not everything has to be perfect. Sometimes, good enough is all you need. Read that again. Quit obsessing over every tiny detail. It’s ok, honest.

 

Perpetual in-completion is today’s reality. “Done” simply doesn’t exist. We aren’t ever really completely finished! Accept it! We only check off some things and new ones take their place. Isn’t that a good thing, really? I never want to stop new things from coming along, do you?

 

Pray I couldn’t be true to myself without adding that one. God created us to live abundantly. We weren’t born to simply exist under a load of guilt and obligation. Always leave some time for that which brings you joy!

 

“Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love.” ~Rumi

 

I plan to post an extra day this week about a guy my kids grew up with. How I wish there were more like him these days! Stay tuned! Need a spring kick-off to energize and inspire your group? I’d love to present my program How to See Life With New Eyes! Contact me at bjstreff@gmail.com.

3 Comments
  • Jon Watts
    Reply

    Betty, thanks for sharing your words of wisdom with the world. I too agree, God did not create us to “exist under a load of guilt and obligation” but to thrive in communion with him.

    March 5, 2018 at 8:01 am
  • Love Your Five P’s….especially the Perpetual -in- completion…..so very true,
    we are never done, with our writing, researching, thinking, being, promoting speaking, and
    trying to maintain a life of balance and humanity.
    Thanks for your words on this stormy Monday, thinking of Spring.
    With gratitude for you, active hope, love & smiles,
    Pat

    March 5, 2018 at 10:26 am
Click on a tab to select how you'd like to leave your comment

Post a Comment

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required