One thing I know from experience as a single working mom to five wonderful children is that God has a sense of humor.
For example…this blog. I thought this would be relatively easy to write, after all I have a fair amount of experience. I got this…and by this I mean mental overload (not the blog).
It feels as if God has allowed me to be about as overloaded as I’ve ever been. It’s a gentle reminder from a Dad who knows I still (and always will) need Him.
He doesn’t want to crush me…just show me how much I need Him and how beautiful it is to lean on and into Him.
One of my friends commented on how well I was juggling everything. (Clearly she wasn’t looking closely.) I responded, “Yeah, until the flaming torches get tossed into the mix.”
I don’t feel like I’m juggling colorful balls. I’m pretty sure everything I’m juggling is either flammable or on fire. It feels like if I drop one, everything is going up in flames.
Each one of those juggly things is something I can’t stop thinking about…no matter how hard I try. So I juggle and try to do life with some grace…
And juggle and try to accomplish things and not look like the failure I feel I am…
And juggle and try to help, advise, and encourage from a place of needing it all myself too…
And juggle and try to rest and sleep…which seems to grow increasingly difficult.
When the Exhaustion of Motherhood Feels Too Heavy to Carry
Before becoming a mom, I had no clue how many thoughts and feelings I could have and deal with in any given moment. You’d think after so many years, I’d be excellent at juggling all the things. Unfortunately, this gal is a wreck inside.
No matter our circumstances or stress, we are all, as women, particularly prone to the stress of carrying a heavy mental load. The world and even the church often offers self-care as the solution.
But can I just say… self-care feels like another to-do I can’t do, and therefore it makes me feel like a failure yet again? Personally, I’d rather take something off the list.
A Simple Shift When You Feel Overwhelmed
As I’ve been writing, I thought about how we already know how hard being a mom is and how the mental load can feel impossible. We need solutions.
And, although I don’t have the magic pill, the perfect schedule, or the spa vacation we’d all appreciate, I do have something I can share that, although it doesn’t necessarily check things off the list, it does provide a perspective shift that will hopefully help…
My simple strategy is not earth-shattering, but it has helped.
I love a good to do list or ten, but sometimes they are not my friends. I makes lists daily, but too often my lists are more like wish lists than practical guidance for what to do in a day. My lists go on and on and on…they feel eternal.
I have realized I need to make a conscious effort to focus on what I need to and can get done in a day. I’ve learned that it is more helpful to make a list of what is possible.
This helps me put things on paper that I can actually do, not just wish I’d done. And, at the end of the day when I look back and my to-do list is mostly or all done my mental clutter gets a little lighter and one of those flaming juggling balls is extinguished.