Two Real Solutions for Overwhelm

Can I share something with you? Every few weeks I feel overcome with heaviness. I don’t want to work, I can’t seem to prioritize, and I feel overwhelmed by the thought of everything I want to do.

For awhile, I thought this was a form of depression or hormonal imbalance because it shows up so regularly (though unpredictably).

But lately I’ve realized it has a different cause – stress.

When I skip my meditation or focus on where I currently am, I lose all steam and ability to go forward.

Instead, I wallow in self-pity and confusion. Not a fun place to be…

But when I make time for myself every day – to truly advance my own personal mission through deep meditation – I feel good.

When I feel good, I feel like anything is possible. Which is key, because my dreams are quite ginormous, to be honest.

To stay focused and moving forward, here are the two pieces I’ve learned to monitor on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis:

1. Giving to yourself.

Not in a lip-service way like an afternoon off or daily walk, though those are powerful practices too. But in a deep “you-come-first” sort-of way. A way that proves that no surface-level hiccups like time crunches or bank account fluctuations will change your priorities.

For you this might be daily exercise or a bath. For me, it’s a morning meditation. When I practice, everything in life is easier – from my diet, to my schedule, to making time for friends. When I don’t, it’s a short and fast downward spiral to feeling hopeless and overwhelmed.

Although I’m no where close to perfect, try to routinize putting yourself first by making it a daily habit. Then you’ll stay grounded in your personal work, which allows everything else in life to just be gravy on top.

2. Focusing on you vision.

The other place you might get gunked up is being too “realistic”. When you get caught up in where and who you are now, you can get stuck in a cycle of disempowering thoughts and emotions.

Every little things can drag you down, like the pile of papers on you desk or new bills or even dirty hair days. Inconsequential things become the proof that you’ll never “get there” and fodder for you insecurities.

But when you stay focused on your vision – who you know you are and will be – then you have the energy to move forward.

To be honest, there’s nothing helpful about “realism” unless you’re looking to drain and exhaust yourself. Sure, you can acknowledge that you’re not where you want to be in a number of areas in your life. But you’re also not going to be inspired to take action on any of them if you spend your precious thoughts and energy focusing on how awful you are.

Instead, you’ve got to pull yourself out of “now thinking” and refocus on your vision. That doesn’t mean living for the future. It means, allowing yourself to live now by embracing who you want to be later, then actually going for it.

Of course, there are other related triggers too. For me, any wobble with dairy, caffeine, or sugar can set me off or compound the effects of either of the above.

But if you’re mindful of choosing you above the daily demands for your attention and staying focused on your vision, you’ll have more energy to be who you want to be.

And just thinking of that loving, laughing, contented person feels better, doesn’t it?

Be free. Be brave. Be YOU!

Love,
Alexis