Overwhelmed?

"All of this has happened before.? And will happen again.”?- M.Aurelius ?

Last week I met with the surgeon and we agreed that the time has come;?the knees must be replaced.? Both are in bad condition, and have gotten to the point that they compromise my quality of life.?Hence, we are going to do a double replacement.? A few days later I was speaking with a friend and informed him of the plan.? His response was well-meaning, but I think my news overwhelmed him.? “Aren’t you worried about the anesthesia?? What about clots?? How will you get around?? Who will be taking care of you after you are released?? What if it doesn’t go right?? You live in a two-story house, what about the stairs?? I wanted to quote Marcus to him, but I simply said, “Thanks for your concern.? It’s comforting to know you will be there if I need you.”

Does life ever seem overwhelming for you?? There are those days that we are faced with challenges out of our control, with people who seem to only want to frustrate us and with situations we could have never imagined.? Think about it, haven’t you been called upon before to deal with a unique challenge?? Haven’t you already dealt with people who seemed hell-bent to ruin your day?? Of course you have! ? You dealt with the issues at hand and came out the other side stronger.? Maybe you even learned something!? My point is, there is a pattern to life.? All the things we worry about, all of the things we see happening; they’ve happened before and they will happen again.? They become bigger in our head than they are in reality.? We have a choice, use our life experiences to deal with the present, or let the present overwhelm us.

So how do you know when you are overwhelmed?? Some have described it as feeling like their world is caving in on them.? Their emotions are all over the place and they aren’t sure if it’s sadness, anger, confusion or something else.? Life seems unbelievably complicated when we feel overwhelmed, but this is where the first choice comes into play.? Do we merely focus on the problem and all the ways it will manifest itself, or do we choose to address it and come to understand how we’ve addressed something similar before?

So what do we do? How can we move through life with less of a sense of being overwhelmed?? Equally important, how can we enjoy our lives in the midst of the chaos?? Creating a fresh perspective is not instantaneous.? It takes some time, but it's worth doing no matter how long it takes.? Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

1. Pause, Breath and Collect Yourself:? Take a few moments to simply regroup.? Begin the mindset that will lead you through this period…”Nothing lasts forever, I’ve dealt with worse.”
2. Talk it Out:? You don’t have to go through this by yourself.? Find a family member, a friend or colleague and express your thoughts.? DON’T keep it bottled up inside.
3. Reflection:? Take a moment to ask yourself: What emotions am I feeling?? When was the last time I felt like this?? What was the situation and how did I handle it?
4. Recognition:? You’ve been here before and survived it, possibly thrived!? What did you learn from a previous experience that can be applied to your current situation.?
5. Planning:? Draw on your resources!? Seek advice from those you are close to and trust.? Prioritize that which is giving you the greatest sense of urgency and then identify a series of small first steps?
6. Implement:? Take those first steps.? Recognize that anything is better than sitting around worrying (stewing without doing!).
7. Reflect, Revise, Implement Again!? What overwhelmed you is now being addressed.? In time this will become another experience you will call upon to help you in the future.

It’s important to remember that feeling overwhelmed is a response to too much stress, it’s not a sign of personal failure.? In fact, feeling overwhelmed could be viewed as a good thing, because it's a warning signal.? Our mind and body are giving us a sign that we need to slow down.? Marcus said it best, “All of this has happened before.? And will happen again.”

Embrace the Challenge.