We are busy. An understatement I know. We are constantly going and going in this day and age. If we are not working, there’s the responsibility of the home to deal with. If those responsibilities are taken care of, then there’s the family to take care of. Once the family has been taken care of, there’s the distractions of the smart phones, the smart televisions, tablets, and social media that hit us every day. We barely sleep due to watching television shows late into the night (I’m guilty of this as well). We are so focused on the likes on our Facebook pages and hearts on Instagram posts, that we fail to really connect with anyone in the real world. A moment away from the smart phone makes us feel like we are missing out entirely. With all the constant going and going is it any wonder that mental health problems are on the rise? We are sleep deprived, stressed, and lonely. What might be a solution to this particular problem? Maybe taking a regular break from all the stress at our jobs, the social media accounts, or even the daily stressors might be the main solution to these problems. Now many of you might be saying, how on earth can we do that?
First and foremost, we need to embrace the fact that we all have limits that must be respected. I know that we would like to believe that we don’t have any limitations. I mean this is America, the sky is the limit on what we can achieve right? While there shouldn’t be a limit on how much we can dream, there is a limit in how much we can achieve. We may not have the expertise or the training to do a job. Let someone else do it. We may not have the mental bandwidth to deal with a certain emotional problem, but we can let someone else who has more energy step into that role.
Second, we don’t need to be a part of everything. We are only meant to be a part of things that build us and others up in a positive way. We don’t need to be a part of everything for the sake of experience. When we jump into event after event, we tend to burn out a lot quicker than those who actually take a moment to be more strategic with their time or their personal resources. Our time and our resources are valuable and it is important for us to use them in a way that is productive and beneficial.
Third, we need to be willing to delegate tasks or responsibility if necessary. Despite what the modern day mindset is, we can’t do everything. Again we have limits! There are times when we have to trust someone else to help us with a task. That may be difficult for us to do at times, but if it safe guards our health then it can only benefit us. In fact, there are times when we delegate tasks, and they end up being taken care of in better ways than we could have done ourselves. Taking these things into consideration, this can help us be more willing to entrust these tasks to someone else.
Fourth, we must be willing to slow down and take our time with things. I know that many of us to not like to slow down for anything, but this is a necessary skill for us to learn. When we rush through moments, we tend to miss out on some important lessons that we would have been able to learn if we had been paying close attention. When we take our time, we can really savor the learning moments and the growing process that we are going through. We can also put forth good quality work instead of rushing through the work itself because we want to be done.
Fifth, we need to have moments where we are unavailable. Now I don’t mean this in a rude or isolating way. There are times when we need to just take a break from the intensity of life. We have a whole bunch of responsibilities that each of us handle every single day. We can’t keep handling the same responsibilities again and again without a pause. And contrary to what some of you may think, the world will not stop spinning because you leave the the task for a brief moment to recharge. If you take a moment to step away from the responsibilty, then you can come back to it with fresh eyes and a fresh perspective.
Finally, we need to be able to say no and keep it. One of the biggest problems that I see in my line of work is the lack of saying the word “no” and keeping it. Notice how I emphasized the last two words of that sentence. Many times we will say “no” and have every desire and intent to keep it, but when push comes to shove we end up not backing up what we say with our actions. This can result in people not respecting what we are saying and continuing to push the limit. When our limits are pushed or rolled over, we end up being even more frustrated and exhausted because we are without the mental or physical bandwith to keep up with the demand. “No” is not a bad word. It is a necessary one that we must use and use frequently.
Rest is essential for our overall functioning as much as eating or breathing. When we refuse to rest, we tend to set ourselves up for a huge burn out in all areas of health. Having regular periods of quality rest helps us to be able to exist in the moments where we need to be fully present.
