Why It's Okay to Feel Overwhelmed

"Life...is arduous, difficult, a perpetual struggle. It calls for gigantic courage and strength." ~Virginia Woolf

Lately, in my spare time, when I haven't been making a meal or cleaning the house or wiping a bottom or taking someone to school or giving a bath or doing homework or sleeping, I've been thinking a lot. Not surprisingly, I've been thinking about being overwhelmed. (Didn't see that coming, did you?)

Admittedly, feeling overwhelmed is a generally unpleasant feeling, marked by anxiety, stress, fatigue, and a plethora of other yucky sentiments. And, with a million things going on at any given moment on any given day, it's not too hard imagine why one would begin to feel that way.

It seems, as women, we don't like admitting that we have arrived at a state of overwhelmed-ness. (Not a word, but I choose not to be overwhelmed by that fact.) We like giving people the good news when they ask how we are: "I'm doing pretty good," "I'm hanging in there," "We're getting by," etc. etc. etc. Not wanting to overwhelm other people (or ourselves) with the facts of our lives, sometimes we layer the good over the bad, even though we might be struggling.

Now, this is not a call for all women everywhere to wear their hearts on their sleeves, and share every intimate deal or difficulty of their lives (although, I say, do it if you feel like it). Just a little reminder that sometimes life is stinky, and it's okay to feel overwhelmed by it all. Here's why:

~A lot is asked of us...to comfort, to help, to spend time, to wake up early (my personal nemesis), to perform on some level or other.

~Sometimes we don't feel well. Our bodies have limitations and that is not always an easy thing to swallow. Our mood (and desire to conquer the world) can be really easily effected by how we feel physically.

~We have to live with disappointments. Plans change, people fail us, and sometimes our lives feel like they are going in the wrong direction altogether, and not because of anything we have done to warrant it.

~The to-do list is never ending. Basically, it will never be complete. Or, if it is, we have to start a new one over the next day anyway.

~The ratio of hours in the day to things that need to get done is abysmally insignificant.

(I hope I haven't overwhelmed anyone who was not already feeling overwhelmed...uh, you guys can just scroll down to the next post.)

Yep. Life is hard. Go ahead and feel overwhelmed by it all. Go ahead and say, "Oh, my holy Hannah, I don't think I can do this right now." And then go ahead and do it anyway. Because you are courageous and strong. And being overwhelmed doesn't mean that you can't still kick trash.