Quietly Overcoming the Overwhelm

I have 15 minutes left before my meetings begin for the day. I set a timer for 10 minutes, open my paints, wet my brush, begin.

Thirty seconds between meetings. I could rush so I’m there in plenty of time. I go to the fridge and fill my water bottle instead.

My to-do list overflows from one week to the next again and again, leaving no time at all for creative projects. But I can write just one line today. Just one. So I do.

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Ten minutes of painting in the morning turns into another and another. Before I know it, I’m painting every day.

One bottle of water turns into two, then three. Before I know it, I’m feeling better and better, hydrated even.

One line turns into a page, then two, then more. Before I know it, I have 12 pages filled, then 20, then 50, and I’m starting to think I could maybe, possibly take this project all the way.

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🌱 Firing up the yoga app instead of making another coffee

🌱 Deep breathing in silence instead of scrolling

🌱 Walking outside instead of melting into the couch

🌱 Melting into the couch instead of overworking

🌱 Thirty minutes with an audiobook instead of TV

🌱 One page of my book before falling asleep

✨ Mind calmed, collected

✨ Soul content, quiet

✨ Body energized, fit

✨ Self rested, whole

✨ Brain gently stimulated

✨ Overwhelm quietly overcome

🌱 Steps like seeds.

✨ Results like weeds.

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For weeks now, I’ve been trying out this strategy, taking small micro-steps towards self-care and personal growth. Because big steps feel impossible. Because nearly every friend and colleague I talk to mentions how busy everything has become all at once, how overwhelming, all-consuming, and as a result, they’ve been neglecting their personal goals altogether, not making time for what they really care about, not able to find even a sliver of motivation for creativity. And now they feel guilty for not staying on track, so it feels easier to ignore their own goals ((Wait, that last one might be just me.))

Then, a few quotes made their way to me over the last couple of weeks, motivating me to take small steps and treat them like seeds, water them, let them grow, and watch myself start growing again ~ a quiet overcoming of sorts.

#1 — a quote from James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits  ⤵

"Many of the moments when you think, 'I wish I had handled that better,' or 'I should have seen that more clearly,' aren't really about poor judgment. Often, the root cause is either rushing through the task or skipping basic self-care. Get an extra hour of sleep. Stop trying to do so many things at once. Go for a walk or get a little exercise. Take a breath and actually think for a minute. You can do a few things well. You can't do everything well. If you keep scattering your attention across seven different priorities, you'll keep making mistakes that your rested and thoughtful mind would never make."

#2 — a quote from The Pivot Year by Brianna Wiest ⤵

"The moments when you want to turn away from yourself, to distract and numb it all out—those are the very ones where you most need to go inward. The ones where you most need to nurture yourself, to hear yourself out. When you’re processing pain, one of the most healing things you can experience is the presence of someone to witness you, and to validate you—and there is nobody who can do that more powerfully than you.”

#3 — a quote from Eat Pray Love (you know the one) ⤵

"I have searched frantically for contentment for so many years in so many ways, and all these acquisitions and accomplishments—they run you down in the end. Life, if you keep chasing it so hard, will drive you to death. Time—when pursued like a bandit—will behave like one; always remaining one county or one room ahead of you, changing its name and hair color to elude you, slipping out the back door of the motel just as you’re banging through the lobby with your newest search warrant, leaving only a burning cigarette in the ashtray to taunt you. At some point you have to stop because it won’t. You have to admit that you can’t catch it. That you’re not supposed to catch it. At some point. . . , you gotta let go and sit still and allow contentment to come to you.”

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If you’re someone who’s been battling never-ending to-do lists lately or feeling overwhelmed for other reasons, I hope this little message is the first of many seeds you start planting on your path to a better way. I hope it lets you know you can do it.

I hope you have the best of weekends, friend, and should you need a friend or a listening ear, I’m only an email away.

Always.