Lessons in letting go of your overwhelming life
- by Jessica Cleveland, M.S, LPC, NCC
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in General
As a specialist in the treatment of anxiety disorders the past four years, I have seen a lot of anxious individuals. Some more anxious than others, but almost all of them despite circumstances or clinical diagnoses, share an underlying feeling of being overwhelmed.
Our lives can be overwhelming. We’re constantly getting feedback from social media, text messages etc. and then there’s life to manage aside from that. Until recently, even I believed that a balanced life consisted of giving equal amounts of my time energy and effort to each of my priorities daily. I was wrong…in fact, living like this added stress and stretched me to a point where I had very little energy for anything or anyone in my life
The truth is, different stages of our lives require us to give different amounts of our time, energy, and effort to each priority. So the first step to finding balance is to identify your priorities right now. Yours may be different, but most people have five common ones. They are God, family, work, friends, and self. Then ask yourself the following questions and answer honestly:
How much time, energy, and effort is each one getting?
Is one of my priorities sabotaging the others? For example, am I giving work much more of my time than is necessary right now and hurting my marriage? If so, you may need to work late less often during this stage of life.
What stage of life am I in? For example, do I have small children that simply require more of me right now? If so, other areas may need to be given less energy, time, and effort…at least until you reach a new stage of life.
Notice that depending on your stage of life, you simply give less time, energy, and effort, so all your priorities are still being attended to, just in different amounts. This helps you set limits and realistic goals for your life, so you are not stretched too thin, thus reducing the overwhelming feeling experienced on a daily basis.
If you need help with finding balance in your life, give us a call at 256.258.7777 or email at info@thebalancedlifellc.com.
