5 Tips for when you are feeling overwhelmed by your life by being too busy.
Namaste, how many times have you said; “I’m too busy”? How many times have you felt like you were running on a treadmill, getting not very far, overwhelmed with all that you have on your plate and feeling daunted by it all?
In our current era of labour saving devices, fast travel and internet communications, it seems that nearly all of us have more things to do than we have time to. You think it might be that you are juggling work and kids? Well, a lot of retirees I have spoken with have told me that they cannot imagine how they ever worked as well as they are now, doing all the things they do. Somehow being busy has become normal for everyone, young and old, retired and working.
Spiritually speaking, I think this busy-ness is really just the Universe setting up a classroom for us all called “choice”. We are meant to choose. Unfortunately, there are no ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ choices, just endless possibilities. These begin with who we think we are. And what we think is right, and how we view the world – through rose coloured or dark glasses? What do we put our faith in? Where do we focus? What food is good for us? Is work more important than home or home more important than work? How we spend our time will tell us what the essence of our being says. So many things, so many potentials are open to us, probably more than ever before.
We are not going to be able to fit in all the things we think we should. On that basis, it might be tempting to do nothing. Doing nothing is a choice. It is also called procrastination. That choice usually doesn’t turn out very well, and leads to a lot of aggravation for us and for those around us.
So, we need to triage. This means: focus on the most important stuff. Deal with that. Sometimes we don’t, because other less important stuff is frankly easier and we feel more comfortable doing it. We cross things off our lists and feel satisfied. At the same time we may be ignoring the huge elephant in the living room, the most pressing issue. We pretend, like an ostrich, that if we don’t look, it will not really be there. We bury our head in trivialities.
Meanwhile we feel increasingly stressed, as we can’t help noticing that the elephant is actually beginning to make a huge mess!
Here is a novel thought. We are not too busy. We are just ignoring choices, we are not delegating, clearing, letting go, saying no, and taking the time to plan better.
This week why not take an hour or two out of the busy-ness to meditate on what really matters. Make a list. Only put on it things that really matter. Be ruthless, like Shiva’s, the Hindu God’s lesser-known son, the warrior Kartekaya. Slash away at irrelevancies, and free your spirit. It is only then we will have time to really make a difference in the world.
In summary: when you think you are too busy
- Slow down, meditate, exercise, get yourself together.
- Get grounded, connect with the Earth and stop the wheels spinning madly. Send all that anxiety down into the Earth. Breathe!
- Ask: What choices am I refusing to make, what priorities am I not realizing: Then, Make a choice
- Be ruthless about getting rid of trivial stuff, even if you know you can do it easily. It’s just cluttering up your life.
- Don’t put off important things just because they might be challenging. They get bigger the longer you leave them unattended and are never as bad as you thought once you get started.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
Shakti Durga
Shakti Durga’s Finding Peace guided meditations are a great resource when you have too much going on.