Physical & Emotional Abuse Support Group
Abuse is a general term for the treatment of someone that causes some kind of harm (to the abused person, to the abusers themselves, or to someone else) that is unlawful or wrongful. No one deserves abuse, period. Abuse can be emotional, physical, or sexual.
I have been so overwhelmed with trying to keep everything together that I sometimes have trouble keeping up with everything & keeping things straight. There are times that I am so stressed that I can't even figure out solutions to the simple things. Sigh. And the thing is that I don't know if I am going to be able to make it in this life having to do so much by myself. There are days that I oversleep and I feel so mentally, emotionally and physically tired even when I have had extra sleep. Some days I feel like I am running up a slippery slope.
For those who understand where I am coming from, how do you deal?
For those who understand where I am coming from, how do you deal?
When feeling overwhelmed, stop and take several deep slow breaths, breathing in to the count of 4 and out to the count of 4. This can be very calming.
Then, make a list of everything that overwhelms you.
Deal with one thing at a time.
When you have a problem, write it out, then brainstorm the solutions.
This is a great website that teaches you in a couple of minutes how to do a free write that will help release some of the overwhelm.
http://juliacameronlive.com/basic-tools/morning-pages/
And, as Ilene always suggests, practice self care. There's a great book by Cheryl Richardson, The Art of Extreme Self Care. My favorite chapter is called, Let Me Disappoint You. :-)
Practice gratitude. We we focus on the positive, we feel less stressed.
And laugh. It's very healing.
the shout out to
my perennial call
for SELF-CARE.
Here's a reiteration
of something that
MTC advised:
Deal with one thing at a time.
The way I express that
concept is: maintain an
extremely narrow focus.
The benefits of keeping
a narrow focus are
numerous. First of
all, we overwhelm
ourselves by remembering
the countless things
that need tending. The
very act of remembering
everything tends to
paralyze us. We feel
exhausted before
we begin and then
NOTHING gets tended.
If we push everything
out of our mind but the
highest priority of that
moment and then get
that one thing done. . . .
it's true there are still
countless things un-tended
BUT we've gotten one thing,
the highest priority of the
moment. . . . . DONE.
When you get the
first thing done,
do some breathing
exercises. Have a
glass of water.
Now go on to the
next highest priority.
Get that one thing
done. Now two
things are done!
Do some deep breating.
Have a healthy snack.
Next highest priority
on the list. . . . .
DONE.
THAT's how to avoid
becoming overwelmed.
I'm not attempting
to refute the fact
that there are still
countless things
left undone. But
guess what?
There will ALWAYS
be countless things
left undone. The day
we die there will be
countless things
remaining to be done.
(Without you there,
someone else will
do them. They might
even have done them
before we "left," if
only we'd delegated
that "to do.")
No one can come
to the end of the
universal "to do"
list.
Keep your focus
narrow and do
what you can.
Practice Self-Care.
Love yourself.
Love your life.
Lighten your heart
any day that you're
able.
Nothing is exactly
perfect but each
of us is a flower
on the stem of
the universe.
We are a
totally
singular
MIRACLE.
Cherish your
precious spirit
and your
irreplaceable life.
Do what you can
and then take
a BREATHER.
Oxygen nourishes.
I'd like to add one more thing to what she said...
If the highest priorities are going to take time and involve several steps, it helps to break down the steps into individual priorities (or goals). Then, as you accomplish each step, you can mark it DONE and take with you a sense of accomplishment as you move to the next step. That sense of accomplishment helps to diminish the feeling of overwhelm.