How do you handle overwhelm?

As a therapist, I can’t tell you how many times people have delayed or canceled their appointments because they have “too much going on.” 

Can you relate?  How often have you cut out your exercise, your time to relax, your fun plans, or your other forms of self-care because you were overwhelmed and had “too much to do?”

I can relate.  

We have this habit of sacrificing what we need the most, just when we need it the most.  

We focus on the to-do list, or try to numb out or distract ourselves (binge watching, anyone?) and hope we will get through the challenges of the day (week, month, year, election...) and THEN we can take better care of ourselves.

We delay, delay, delay what we need for a time when we “feel well-enough” to do something to help us feel better.  

Well, inevitably, when these clients come in the next time, they are feeling worse or they talk about how bad they felt...and then, during the conversation, they realize, “Wow, if I’d come earlier, I could have begun feeling better sooner.  It wouldn’t have had to get so bad.”

It's the same for me.  I was struggling to get all sorts of tech pieces figured out and integrated so they'd work together, and was sacrificing sleep.  After giving myself the opportunity to take a break and get a full night's rest, low-and-behold, I was able to go back to those same pesky problems and figure it out (at least, I think I figured them out!)

You may be struggling with the same thing right now...Overwhelm convincing you that you can’t do anything else until _______.

In reality, there has never been a better time to start taking care of yourself than right now.  

No matter what happens in this election, the social justice needs are not going away. 

You need to take care of yourself for the road ahead.

You matter. You can make a difference. I'm so thankful you're here.