It finally feels like summer. I’m back from my island vacation, feeling renewed, to a whirlwind of activity. I’m planning a celebration of life for my dad who died last year during the pandemic and my mother is moving out of the house that she’s lived in for 50 years. Needless to say, she has a lot of stuff.
My boys have been helping her pack stuff up and move it into storage. She’s not sure where she will be going, and she doesn’t feel like she has enough time to go through everything. This can be exhausting and overwhelming.
Overwhelm is something I’ve felt a lot in my life. I tend to procrastinate and become overwhelmed with projects to complete. Then the perfectionism kicks in and I’m stuck, usually doing nothing, and as the deadline approaches, I feel like I have to settle for less than I’m capable of producing.
Often this means I forget things and may have to spend extra money. For example, I’ve had almost a year to order a print for my dad’s celebration. Now the celebration is on Saturday, I ordered it on Sunday and paid extra shipping so it will get here on time.
What I am learning is that it is much easier to do things in baby steps. Much to my chagrin, my house has been cluttered for years. Then in late December, I hired a decluttering consultant and I’m decluttering one drawer or closet at a time. When Mike and I moved it was a lot like mom. We waited until the last minute and everything got put in boxes and moved. Then when it came time to unpack it was overwhelming, so it didn’t get done. I have boxes from several moves that were never unpacked. Many of them are at my mom’s house. Now is the time to go through them to see if there is anything I want to keep.
Are you feeling overwhelmed? It could be from a move. It could be from grief. It could be from losing your job or your job is overwhelming. The horses can help bring you back to feeling more joy. Connect with me here to learn more.
Sometimes if I Shut Up and Dance I can leave the overwhelm behind.
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Onward!