Have you ever felt so overwhelmed that you’d rather curl up into a ball and die? I get it. I was there once myself. It’s a sucky place to be.
It doesn’t matter if you wallow when your overwhelmed or you simply mentally check out. Being overwhelmed is a crappy place to be.
“Just stop letting it bother you” This is the worst thing that has ever been said to me when I felt my life was in a sucky place.
Honestly, maybe the person who said it had good intentions, but they came out all wrong.
So, what is the solution, then?
A Quick Backstory
A few weeks ago, I was attending a dinner thing with about 30 other women. The reality is I didn’t know any of these women very well, so even though this was meant to be a nice time out. I was still stressed by all the new people I was going to meet and whatnot.
If you haven’t figured this out yet, I hate “girl” stuff. The fake smiles. The awkward conversations where you play it cool. You know the “girl” stuff.
Once dinner was finished, the guest speaker got up to do his thing. I sat back with my drink & felt immediate relief that I passed the test. I managed to survive the entire dinner without any weird internal feelings.
The speaker started talking about how to persevere in life & how to set the right example for others. I felt more relief simply because the talk was a topic I love. I sat up a little straighter & got engrossed in the message.
He talked about that moment when life feels impossible, & you have two options. You can be overwhelmed & accomplish nothing, or you can try to think outside of the box.
Then it happened.
He reached into his back pocket and brought out an object lesson. He held up a puzzle that was made of two horseshoes connected by a chain with a small ring around the center.
He then asked us if any of us know how to solve the puzzle.
My arm shot up like a bolt of lightning. “Didn’t everyone’s dad show their kids this puzzle?” I thought.
I came out of my trance to quickly realize I was the ONLY person in the room with my hand raised.
Remember when I said I thought I had passed the “girl” test. Well, this moment was an epic fail. I was now trying to crawl back inside myself, but everyone in the room kept staring.
The next thing I knew, I was being called front and center to show the group how to take this ring off.
I figured I’d make the most of the situation & did all the shaking magic that goes along with this trick.
Side note, if I sucked a visually describing this contraption. Here’s a video to show you what I’m talking about.
At first glance, the puzzle seems impossible, but once you figure it out, it’s ridiculously easy. It just takes you thinking outside of the box a bit.
Getting Back to Being Overwhelmed.
Let me just be real with you for a second. Your life will always be full of chaos. So, if you keep telling yourself, “things will get better when blah blah blah” Stop being dumb.
The only way for you to figure this all out is to find a way to embrace your chaos & stop waitingyou’re your life to fix itself.
I get it. We all have times in our lives when we feel like we are going to die! You wouldn’t be normal if you didn’t experience this on repeat in your life.
Learn to embrace your chaos by doing something different.
More Inspiration
There once was this guy named Paul. He made a living by pissing people off with the truth of his message. Honestly, if I met him in real life, I think I’d love his personality.
The downside to his career is that he was so good at his job that people wanted to literally kill him. Oh, & he lived in a time where there weren’t strict laws prohibiting killing people.
Long story short, he had a few fantastic days at work & he got wind of a group of guys that were actually plotting his murder. Yikes!
The problem was he was stuck in this city with no way out. All the exits were being guarded by people working for those plotting guys.
Paul had two choices. He could either curl up in a ball and die, or start thinking outside the box.
Acts 9:25 - Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.
Obviously, he & his buddy thought outside of the box & found a literal hole in the wall of the city & he made his great escape.
The Solution
If you’re still here & your rolling your eyes at me, because thinking outside the box is so abstract. Stop. Just. Stop. I’m not saying this is an easy solution. If you were looking for an easy answer, I’m probably not your person & you should head elsewhere to find that chick.
Moving on.
If you are overwhelmed with your life, stop wallowing or mentally checking out. I get that thinking outside the box can appear overwhelming too, but you got this.
Don’t eat a double dose & try one small change. Maybe you try getting up 10 minutes earlier so you can actually enjoy a few sips of coffee in silence before the chaos of life starts.
I don’t care what you try as long as you are trying.
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