Just A Little...

We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.

2 Corinthians 1:8-10 

 

The night had been spent tossing and turning because my mind kept running through my calendar for the the next day to make sure I had not forgotten to enter an appointment (my mind doesn't seem to be able to keep track the way it used to). 

 

Plus, I had forgotten to pick up my prescription for sleep meds.  

 

Plus, so far this year, let's just say I am truly looking forward to 2016 being over.  

 

PLUS I still have classes to facilitate and get the needed materials together and in order.  

 

PLUS family issues to deal with.

 

PLUS I have a list of projects that need to be completed.

 

PLUS.....PLUS......PLUS......the load never seems to get lighter and the stress never seems to let up, does it?

 

It was one of those days where I realized there was not enough coffee in the Universe to give me the strength to complete everything that was staring me in the face from my calendar.

 

To say I felt more then a bit overwhelmed would be an ENORMOUS understatement!!!

 

Then today's passage was this morning's devotional, and I breathed a prayer of gratitude that even history's most energetic, stubborn, and dedicated Apostle felt overwhelmed.

 

As I sat with my coffee pondering today's passage, I couldn't help but hear the James Bond theme song in my mind along with his famous catch-phrase "shaken....not stirred."  Now, I'm no James Bond and am not a fan of martinis, but I realized that I NEEDED to be shaken in order to be stirred into action (see what I did there?).  The fact was, I had gotten complacent and had forgotten that it's okay to say "I'm sorry, I just simply cannot fit another thing into my calendar today."  It's okay to take care of myself.  It's okay to realize that I am not a superhero who can wear tights (wipe THAT image from you mind if you can) and who can swoop in to solve everyone's problems.  It's OKAY!

 

The Apostle Paul was stressed and overwhelmed to the point he thought he would die!  That is pretty overwhelmed!  Jesus even was so stressed over His upcoming trial, torture and execution that He had sweat droplets running down His face like blood.  So feeling overwhelmed is okay...we are in good company.

 

I realize this is a bit of a long read today, and I thank you for reading this far, but let me give you a few PRACTICAL ways of helping alleviate some stress:

     *    Take care of yourself.  Yes, I just punched myself in the face on that one.  If you don't take care of you, then how can you take care of others.

     *     Realize that you have only 24 hours in each day, and some of that time needs to be spent resting and sleeping.

     *     Learn to limit what you need and want to do each day.

     *     When you feel overwhelmed, don't be afraid to ask for help.  Even if it's just to unload some of the stress by talking it out.  Sometimes a different perspective can alleviate stress.

 

It's okay to be human....you are in good company!