3 Secrets to Overcoming Overwhelm

When you’re overwhelmed, the “keep calm and carry on” saying feels like a joke and almost offensive, especially if you suffer from anxious thoughts.

When you see everything you have to do, your brain doesn’t view this as a to-do list. You suddenly feel threatened and fall into the default of the scarcity mindset.  You feel there’s not enough energy or time to fit everything you need to do into a day, a week, or maybe even this season. Hence, you  become overwhelmed by the thought of doing and the response you must make to seemingly insurmountable tasks. What results?  You find yourself feeling like you’re at the bottom of a mountain, uncertain, exhausted, confused, unable to take a step, and completely overburdened by overwhelm.  

Here are three secrets to help you when you reach that place! 

1. Think about what it is that is overwhelming you.

Sometimes being overwhelmed can actually be a result of a lot of things going right.  Have you ever thought about that way?  Rather than it being a massive list of to-dos, it may actually be a list of “get-to-dos”.  Perhaps, you’re overwhelmed by parenting, the work that comes with a job you dreamed of or a goal you’re finally working towards.  Being overwhelmed doesn’t imply weakness or fault.  It’s simply a state of mind and one that can be influenced. Gain perspective on your overwhelm and  allow yourself to reset. 

2. Set your boundaries

What would a race be without lanes or a sport without boundaries?  Sheer chaos.  Such is so in your daily life. Boundaries exists for a reason.  Without boundaries, there is overlap and confusion which leads to overwhelm. 

What tends to happen is when we find space in our lives (an unbound area), we tend to fill it with ONE thing and then we tend to see that power of “one” begin to multiply.  We fall prey to its proof that we can do more, that we’re able, and so we add one more thing, we say yes to one more thing, and so our live begin to evolve free of boundary lines.  We become not limitless but rather beyond limited by our own doing. 

You need a moment – to think, to breathe, to clear the noise.  Reset the boundaries in your life. Give your TRUE inner voice, your soul, space to speak and remind you of what is good, what is YOU. Give your ears a moment to hear the whispers and your eyes a chance to see the beauty and wonder around you.

3. Magnify what Matters 

Part of the problem that exists today is not a busyness problem, but rather a user-error problem.  Everyone has been given the gift of magnifying glass in their lives.  It’s a tool to be used for the moments that are filled with wonder, laughter, and love!  But instead, too often it’s left unused for many of these and instead used to magnify to-do lists, problems and has created magnified state of overwhelm. 

When you’re in a season, it’s hard to see out.  But remember that everything is but a season.  Don’t miss your blessings. Don’t miss the good that surrounds you. Magnify what matters.  This too shall pass. 

Do the thing you must do.  Let go of the rest. Let your mind rest. 

Overwhelmed by Love

My hope and prayer for you today is that your anxious heart would be calmed, your overwhelmed mind would feel unburdened instead, your boundaries would be set (or maybe even reset), and that you’d have the courage to take one step at a time. May you wake up to wisdom to use the magnifying glass in your life wisely! And may  the only overwhelming thing in your life today be the overwhelming love and grace that surrounds you.