Take Control When Overwhelmed

Little Things Add Up

Overwhelmed. That’s a powerful word and a terrible place to be. It means to overpower or overcome; then again if you are currently overwhelmed, you know exactly what it means. When overpowered by situations and/or people, you feel oppressed and lose your sense of control. Major issues, trauma, and the death of a loved one can leave us feeling overwhelmed; but what about the heaps of everyday trials, disappointments and pains that compound into oppression? Sometimes the smaller things in life can pile up and eventually begin to suffocate the life force from our exhausted bodies. That’s when we realize that life and all its stressors have us completely overwhelmed and have deemed us inept.

Overcoming Overwhelmed

I know about this firsthand. My own daily trials and pain recently had me backed into a corner of despair. I sat there emotionally and physically overpowered while I watched my strength and perseverance being snatched away from me by a thief; a thief employed by busyness, pain, distraction, discontent, obstacles, and doubt. At that point, my thoughts ran too fast to catch, my confidence waned and my ability to do simple tasks left me entirely. Being overwhelmed rendered me exhausted, unproductive and even paralyzed.  I despise that feeling! I hate being incapacitated for any reason but to be immobilized because I let life get the best of me is frustrating to a disgusted point. Being overwhelmed to this degree is synonymous with failure to me. Since I was guilty, I judged myself harshly and pronounce the sentence of such failure…“give up.”  A voice in my head told me “it’s no use, you’ll never do it”, “you can’t do it” and “it wasn’t meant to be, so it would be best to just give it up.” The voice promptly reminded me of all my past inadequacies and failures then it proceeded to tell me that I, myself, am a failure. In my pitiful weakness, I almost agreed with the lies and accept defeat when suddenly I became overtaken with anger instead. I am angry with all of the people and circumstances opposing me – then I realize I am most angry with myself!

Who Has Control?

Being so overwhelmed leaves me with a sense of being “out of control.” I soaked in the knowledge that I can’t control other people and most circumstances, even though I’ve futilely tried. I dug deeper to find that I CAN control myself. The control I was so desperately seeking shouldn’t be focused on other people or situations but it should be directed at me! I can take my thoughts captive and I can control my behavior and reactions. In that moment, my pathetic anger turned to sheer determination. For a recovering control freak, it felt good to have a little of it back. I hate being weak as much as I despise being out of control, so I declared strength, not from myself, but from the supernatural source I believe in. “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). I do the practical thing by refusing to give up and I do the most intelligent act by calling out in faith on Jesus Christ to help me. Jesus said, “with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). Dwell on those words; with God, ALL things are possible! I’m going with that. So from beaten down and defeated, I rose up and asked for Him to help. He does. But I am the one that has to stand firm and dust myself off; I have to do that myself. I have to tell the deceiving voice in my head to “shut up!” I have to take that first step forward. I did. I also find peace in the fact that the only thing I have control over is myself…God has the rest.

See an Individual Opposition, Not an Army

All of the problems and obstacles that put me on the ground are still present; I just view them differently now. I don’t look at them as a whole because united together; they all become a powerful army against me -and my purpose. However, if I look at them individually, each opposition is too small and insignificant to bring me down. As I examine each problem or situation, I see that not one is big enough to even slow me down. I come to the conclusion that being overwhelmed is simply a state of mind that can be changed into something manageable. If you are overwhelmed, slow your thoughts down enough to realize that you have the control on how you view the obstacles and pain in your life and you have the control on how you react to each one. Remember if you look at all the opposing forces and situations all together as one entity, they will appear as an enormous powerful army against you. But choose to look at each one individually as a challenger deemed defenseless against the power within you. Replace your defeated attitude with perseverance and courage. Move forward, get back into life and fight the opposition now that you can see it differently.