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I woke up this morning feeling overwhelmed. It wasn’t even six in the morning, and my mind was going crazy, thinking about the million things I wanted to get done today. While brushing my teeth, I was suddenly overcome by a desire to start rushing around the house in a panic. Now that I think about it, it was kind of funny. Can you imagine? Me running around the house at 5:30 a.m. yelling at no one: “I’m overwhelmed! I need more time! I don’t have time! Please, somebody help me! Give me your 24 hours if you’re not using them today!” 😂
I didn’t do it, though. I didn’t want to wake up my puppy and boyfriend because I was having an unreasonable morning crisis. Yes, I do know my crisis wasn’t reasonable. I was letting my mind take me to situations that weren’t even happening. I had a list of things I wanted to do, but the time available to do them wasn’t enough, so I got anxious. Anyway, I put my gym clothes on and went to my little spot to meditate before beginning what I thought would be my very stressful day. Ahhhh. Thank God for meditation! Also, thank God for always sending me the right messages at the perfect time.
When I opened the meditation app (I used Mindfulness today), I heard Cory Muscara’s voice, like an angel sent by God himself. I’m serious! Let me share with you what he said in the meditation’s introduction, so you can see why I feel so blessed. He said he saw a quote on Instagram that said, “What do you want to do for the rest of your life? Do that.” First, he explained in a very positive way what he thought the perspective/intention behind the quote is, but then he added the magic phrases that took me completely out of my anxiety. He asked, “How could you possibly know what you want to do every day for the rest of your life?” He then said: “I hardly know what I want for lunch today, let alone what I want to commit to for the rest of my life.”
From his perspective, those types of questions put a lot of pressure on people, trying to make them think they need to have everything figured out and know their lives’ paths. He said he believes questions like that are too big—that we don’t need to know what we’re going to do for the rest of our lives or even in the next five years. According to him, all we can do is try different things and see what feels right to us at the moment. He said we always have the right to change our passion and the path we want to take. Then he suggested we instead ask ourselves, “What do I feel inspired to explore more deeply at this point of my life?” and take the first step in that direction.
I then did the guided meditation that was perfectly aligned with that message, and just like that I came out of my overwhelming thoughts. I’d been feeling overwhelmed about situations that weren’t even real yet, but I took that message and applied the wisdom behind it to my own present feelings. Why was I so anxious if the day hadn’t even started? The hours in the day weren’t going to magically increase, and I couldn’t borrow hours from anyone else. I just needed to organize, prioritize, and get to work. I ended my guided meditation and prayers, and then I completed my top priority for the morning (my little sister’s birthday). I texted her and posted my little story for her on Instagram. Then the day unfolded like it needed to. I saved the things I wasn’t able to complete today for tomorrow and the world kept spinning.
We get overwhelmed so easily, especially at this time of year, when we feel like we need to plan (and complete) all our goals. It’s great to have clear goals and plans, but it’s not healthy to be unrealistic about them. We really don’t need to have the whole year specifically planned by the day and hours in a calendar. Life is too unpredictable and impermanent to force ourselves into that type of regimen. If your work requires you to be like that, then just be nice to yourself when things don’t happen exactly as you planned them. Remember, the puzzle is already designed; we’re simply in charge of putting the pieces together. Have fun with it. Don’t stress over things that can’t be controlled. Keep organized, but make some room for changes because at the end of the day they’re part of life.
The best thing we can do to stop feeling overwhelmed in our daily lives is to trust our journey, my friends. If something isn’t happening the way you want it to, trust the force and reason behind it. Take a deep breath and let the Big Guy do His job. Faith doesn’t share space with panic, so choose wisely.
Love,
Irene
