Overcoming Overwhelmed
“When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”
-Psalm 61:2
We’ve all been there. Feeling as if you are being pulled in 20 different relational directions while juggling five sticky life circumstances all the while trying to appear as if you don’t have a care in the world. We live in a society that screams do it all and attain it all. Work a full-time job while parenting three young kids. Add getting to the gym 5 days a week and weekly date nights with your significant other…and eating organic…and attending every social event…and before you know it, your life plate is overflowing, and your emotional/mental/spiritual tank is empty. How do we break this cycle? How do we say no to stress and yes to rest?
I recently came across a definition of overwhelmed, that left me wondering what sabotaging core beliefs were leaving me feeling anxious, tense, and exhausted. Beliefs that left me feeling overwhelmed.
Merriman-Webster states one definition of overwhelmed is to overpower in thought and feeling. To overpower in thought and feeling. Let’s process through the following three sabotaging beliefs that might be leaving you feeling, like me, overwhelmed.
The belief that you must have everything figured out. This belief disguises itself in a protective nature that declares if I can figure it out, then I can control it. And if I can control it, then I can keep myself safe, happy, and secure. While we are attempting to have everything figured out, the idol of knowledge is robbing us from the gifts of awe and wonder. Which leads us to the next sabotaging belief.
The belief that the unknown is to be feared. We plan, worry, and obsess about what the future holds. We wonder if our future days meet the hopes and expectations we have stored in our hearts and in this wondering, we fear that it won’t. But what if it doesn’t? Some of the most marvelous occurrences have happened after the worst storms. Some of the most beautiful character traits are refined through the fiercest trials. Planning is needed; however, obsessing and worrying about the future is robbing us from the gifts of peace, presence, and rest.
The belief that rest is unproductive. When is the last time you disconnected from the world and enjoyed the beauty of silence? Taking time to just be and reflect on your life might hold the key that points you to something bigger than yourself. A purpose bigger than you could ever have imagined. Reflecting on the ‘why’ you are running the race of life will invigorate and inspire you to run with determination. Don’t let busyness rob you from recognizing the gift of purpose.
If you are looking for permission to stop juggling the proverbial balls of life, here it is. And as you watch the balls roll away, watch awe, wonder, peace, rest, presence, and purpose prevail.
Brandi Kujawa,
Counseling Intern
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