The past few weeks have been very busy for me, filled with deadlines, goals to achieve, projects to complete amongst other day to day commitments and I actually began to feel very tired and overwhelmed. I am always on the go and a lot of times I find it very difficult to just relax, rest and just not do anything.
Every now and then I get the opportunity to drop off my three year old at school. we normally have to get the train and somehow we both enjoy the train ride because we get time to gist. I ask her about school and her friends and generally what's going on with her. All the fun normally stops when we get off the train and we have to walk down to her school. For her, all she wants to do is stop along the way, pick flowers, smell the flowers, admire the nicely cut grass in the beautiful suburb area that her school is situated in. While, for me I am thinking of the next train I need to catch to be able to make my early morning meetings.
I missed my train on one faithful day and I was really upset with her and I was so frustrated. Waiting on that platform, I was so furious with her for wasting my time. When I eventually got on the train, me being me, I began to think and plan my day ahead. Anyone that knows me would testify to the fact that somehow my brain is always in gear and all of a sudden, it dawned on me that I could actually learn from a three year old and that there was more to life than just being on the go all the time and the reason I sometimes feel overwhelmed and frustrated is because somehow I am always on the go, once I achieve one thing, I am straight away onto the next achievement or the next goal. I began to think about how she stopped and took time to admire the beauty of nature, the beauty of her surroundings and it began to dawn on me that because we are so busy, a lot of us miss out on the beautiful things around us. It began to dawn on me that the two only time I STOP to SMELL THE ROSES is when I am so tired and in that overwhelming state.
The key thing when you find yourself in that overwhelming state is to stop and take a step back and go to that place that calms you, that place that gives you joy, that place that makes you so happy that makes everything else seem inconsequential
For me music has always been my thing, it does not matter how frustrated or overwhelmed I am, music has always been the one thing that calms me. Put me in a room by myself till Kingdom comes, as long as I have music, as long as I can worship God in song, that overwhelming feeling begins to fade away. So I've learnt to always go back to my calm place when I begin to feel overwhelmed. So
whenever I feel overwhelmed, I simply just STOP, and let everything be for a while, one thing I have learnt for sure is that the world will not end just because I STOP, but if I'm not careful I might just STOP if i don't STOP and SMELL THE ROSES when I begin to feel overwhelmed and frustrated. As I write this, the scripture " when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I" actually makes perfect sense - Psalm 61:2.
Everyone needs to find that SMELL THE ROSES thing or place, for some of you its reading a novel, for some it's watching movies, for some it's playing games, for some it's hanging out with friends, for some it's simply just doing nothing. The important thing is to find that thing or place that works or helps to calm you when you find yourself being overwhelmed or stressed out.
Feeling overwhelmed or stressed is nature's way of telling you, you need to slow down or re - prioritise your goals or deadlines or simply what you need to feel to be able to make a necessary change in life.
When I am able to achieve that calm state after being overwhelmed, then I sit down and reassess my goals and priorities and most time I have a clearer picture of what I need to do to get to my destination.
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