I’ve come to the conclusion that I now need more patience than usual. The things that used to enjoy doing are now the source of burnout. I told myself I just need a vacation. We could all use one of those, am I right?
A vacation isn’t going to fix this problem. The issue is that I am overloading my life with stuff! I love to stay active as much as the next person, but I had to realize that I was stressing myself out trying to volunteer myself for every task someone needed help with, saying yes to extra opportunities to serve others and not allowing myself to sit at home without doing something I deemed productive. I’m exhausted recounting it all!
If you love to be active too and feel terrible when you’re not doing something, let’s talk. Overwhelm can take a toll on our lives mentally, physically, emotionally and even spiritually. Carolanne Miljavac wrote a devotion that moved me to realize that when I have so much going on, I can’t always recognize Satan’s schemes in my life.
We live in a world where we’re encouraged to keep filling up our lives until they’re too full and then we try to squeeze a little Jesus in there to meet our faithful requirement for the day. I don’t know about you, but I need more Jesus than the ounce of time I’ve been giving Him.
Instead of facing our issues we run from them as if we can handle the weight of them on our own, filling our already full jar with more stuff. This is all in the name of being busy because that’s success, right? The world’s happy now because you’re supermom, a boss lady or the number one guy on the block.
We tell ourselves that we’re the only ones who can get the work done. Perhaps it is true that we’re the only ones who can do things the way we would, but chances are someone else can do what it is we’re gripping so tightly to. All of this is really in the name of crazy.
What if we said “No More!” to that crazy and chose to live more simply? What if we became nicer because we weren’t so overwhelmed and our brains had time to create more kind thoughts. What if we had time to develop those friendships with the people God brought into our lives and said no to an extra shift at work to take them out to lunch.
When we have less on our plate we can hear God more clearly because we aren’t rushing our time with Him to move on to the next task. We could then notice when the enemy is trying to weasel himself into our lives and defeat him with the Word we finally made time to digest.
Let’s stop saying yes to overwhelm. Let’s stop saying yes to super busy and start saying yes to living minimally!
Here are five things we can all do to get from underneath the weight of an overwhelming life:
- Entrust it to Him First Far too often we say I’ll do what I can and give God the rest. Let’s live out of 2 Corinthians 12:9 which states “‘My grace is sufficient for you…’” Let’s give each task to God first and ask Him for wisdom about how and when to complete it, as well as how to delegate it, if necessary. Let’s stop starting each task by only operating in our own strength.
- Kick guilt to the curb! If you can’t complete something, stop beating yourself up about it. If it’s costing you your health, too much time or your sanity, it’s time to let it go. God isn’t saying “That girl’s not coming into these gates with that unwashed laundry. Try again!” The only person judging you on your personal goals is you.
- Set realistic goals. I am notorious for setting some pretty unrealistic personal goals. I’ll start off in the morning with a todo-list as long as Route 66 and think I’m going to accomplish everything on the list by day’s end with my superhuman abilities. The reality is, I set unrealistic goals and then feel bad about not accomplishing them. Why do we do this to ourselves? Let’s set 3-5 realistic goals for the day and if we accomplish that, then measure how much time we’ve got to add more, or plop down on the couch and REST.
- Say No! Yes, this can be difficult, but it’s so necessary. Of course, you don’t have to say no to everything, but if it’s something that will take your last hour of freedom, treat that hour like gold and say no. Who can really judge you, unless it’s something that God told you to do? If He did call you to say yes to it, cut out what He hasn’t called you to do to free up some time!
- Remember that rest is required! Yes, God has called us to take time to rest our bodies and minds. If God rested, why shouldn’t we? We overwork our bodies for the sake of pleasing others or to meet some unrealistic expectation of our own. All the while, we get sick easier, we’re moody and feeling burnt out. Let’s choose to work rest into our schedules!
Choosing to live life more simply and minimally is certainly a shift in lifestyle. We have to be willing to say no to the grind-trap and yes to allowing ourselves time to relax without shame.
If you agree and this post was helpful, drop a comment below!
