Maria Connolly, LPC
Find tips on healing, supporting and maintaining the best mental health practices by also achieving the best physical, emotional and spiritual health practices too.
Feeling overwhelmed is a common experience in today’s fast-paced world. The good news is that there are effective strategies to manage this feeling and shift our mindset towards a richer, fuller life. Keep this in mind when learning how to overcome overwhelm: it’s a journey to be enjoyed, not a search for a quick fix that lets you keep doing what you’ve been doing. And it involves taking back your power…
Is it possible to stop holding on to emotional baggage? Yes! There is actually a tried-and-true process for leaving something behind resourcefully.
Have you noticed how easy it is to hold on to negative life events? A “failed” relationship. A “stupid” decision. A judgmental comment. The list is endless. We’ve got them neatly packed away in our brains, so they can resurface and haunt us all over again.
When people think of the steps to recovery, they often associate it with drug or alcohol abuse or trauma. As a result, the word “recovery” has an element of judgment or negativity attached to it… “Oh, you’re in recovery, well we won’t talk about that!” Added to that, the common attitude toward being successful in business and the sports world is that we must “Hustle and push through it, Rest is for wimps!” Thankfully, despite this negativity, people are finally recognizing how vital recovery is to our ability to perform at our very best.
In the following example, you’ll see why recovery is so essential…
A parent asks the child, “What are you doing?” Her response “I’m thinking.” The parent comes back with, “Don’t you think it would be better if you got up and did something constructive like cleaning your room instead?” We’re trained at an early age that “doing” and ‘’checking off tasks” is what’s important. We certainly aren’t taught a formula, system, or reflective practice to unpack our experiences. But I’m here to do that for you and we’ll get to that in a moment.
As a result, we’re caught up in the whirlwind of daily tasks and responsibilities. We race through life, rarely pausing to reflect on our actions, decisions, and experiences. However, cultivating a reflective practice can be a transformative journey that brings clarity, self-awareness, and personal growth. One of my favorite quotes helps bring this into perspective…
Which would you say is more stressful and damaging to your health — stress from a car accident or from a messy house? — a breakup with a romantic partner or a friend who makes you crazy because she never follows through on what she promises? — a harsh comment from a friend or self-sabotaging thoughts?
We’re well-equipped to handle short-term stressors or life-threatening situations. We deal with it, then we’re free of it. But if there’s constant, long-term, nagging stress, we suffer deeply.