There comes a time in anyone’s life when you just get overwhelmed. You know what I mean…overstressed, overtired, overwrought, overdone. It’s too much. Your TO DO list is longer at the end of the day than it was at the beginning.
You have tried prioritizing your TO DO list and “being okay” with checking off the top 3-4 things on the list.
You repeatedly talk yourself out of the perfectionist standard you fight against.
And you just. need. a. break.
You are not alone.
I have been there. I AM totally there.
I wear many hats: mom, wife, ministry leader, full time writer/author, marketing director, domestic engineer…
Last weekend, I had a come-to-Jesus meeting with myself. Let’s call it what it was…I had a mini-breakdown.
On Friday, we had a speaker at the moms’ group I work with. She posed a couple of “think about it” questions to us:
What do you think about when it gets quiet?
Well, I think about all the things I have to do. Which is always a list of 5 or 6 things at any given moment.
What do you really want?
A break. A real break.
Fast forward to a Writers Conference I went to the next day. The keynote was none other than Brandilyn Collins. She was talking about a manuscript she had to cut by 40%. And her approach was not to find things to cut, but instead to focus on what the story was about, then the rest was excess and could go.
A lightbulb went off. God was speaking.
That was the key for my situation!
Why didn’t I approach my life that way? Look at what fit my purpose, my goals…and let the rest go. Not that there weren’t good things in my calendar, but if they didn’t fit my purpose/goals, they didn’t feed my soul, they were just taking away necessary time and weighing down my schedule.
First, I had to know my purpose, my goals.
And then I could approach my week, my commitments this way: Does it fit my purpose/goals? Does it feed my soul or allow me to rest? If not, then it needs to go.
But as far as making new commitments, my default answer is: I will think about it. I am no longer allowing myself to say “yes” immediately. If they need an answer on the spot, it must be “no”. Because I need to consult my calendar thoughtfully. Saying “yes”, means giving up time elsewhere, saying “no” to something else, or perhaps other thingS. And my schedule is so busy, it usually means giving up multiple things.
My hope for you is that you, too, can find that balance, that focus, and let go of the excess. Because I have found peace in that. And you can too.