Three Ways to Win During Stressful Times
I work in the hospitality industry as a marketing professional. Work is always busy, and there is no shortage of responsibility. My department supports several different brands – there are a lot of decisions to make, a considerable budget to manage and a lot of people to answer to. By the time I leave in the evenings, my head is often spinning with a to-do list for work while I try to shift gears and start focusing on my family.
When I am not working, my daughters and husband fill my time. Olivia (7) and Addison (3) keep me busy with dance practices, birthday parties, choir rehearsal, and what seems like a million other things. After 9.5 years, Kelsey and I still haven't figured out a way to manage what we're having for dinner. Don't even get me started on our solution for laundry. Most days, my commute home from the beach usually involves figuring out what I can throw together for dinner and trying to remember where I last saw the girls' dance shoes.
Honestly, there are very few days when I don't feel overwhelmed and stressed by all of the things happening in my life. Feeling overwhelmed can lead to doubting my capabilities and my self-worth. Am I being a good mom? Do I deserve the job that I have? If I was a good wife, would I already have a plan for dinner? Questions like these fight for room inside my mind and begin to embed themselves in my heart as truth. Sometimes I can spiral a bit, but eventually, my faith guides me back to what I know to be true. God is my refuge. I can cast all these worries on Him.
Psalms 29:19 NLT says, "When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer." Through a relationship with God, our troubled mind can be consoled. The stress we face will be replaced with peace, and the anxiousness we feel will be quieted.
Recognizing stress and knowing how to prevent it from spiraling out of control is essential to winning during stressful times. Here are three techniques I focus on when I feel overwhelmed:
Make Time for Bible Study
You might envision a table full of books, pens, and highlighters sprawled out on a desk, but I'm here to tell you that my Bible study time is not always like that. I'm big on tech. I have the Bible App on my phone along with the Sunday School Commentary (Kelsey and I teach a class). When I feel anxious or stressed during the day. I take a few minutes to quietly open my App and find scriptures that I've bookmarked, or I will continue a Bible reading plan. In three to five minutes, I feel like life has been reset. If I have more time, I'll read over my Sunday School Lesson for the week. It's not about how long I read; it's about shifting my focus back to God.
Remind Yourself That You Are Worthy
Worthiness and perfection are often tied together. We tend to think that if we were meant to do something, we'd know how to do it. We expect the process to be easy. The reality is that we will make mistakes along the way. We will probably feel embarrassed by our attempts at one point or another, but that does not mean that we should give up or that we're not worthy of the opportunities in front of us.
Take Care of Yourself
No matter how hard you try, you cannot pour from an empty cup. After my daughters were born, I thought I could become a superwoman doing everything I could for everybody who asked. It left me with little time to do anything for myself and I thought that was ok!! At some point, on some random day, I realized that I was tired of running myself ragged. The requests for help never seemed to slow down, and it was clear that I deserved a break. I learned that saying "no" is acceptable, and that time spent quietly watching TV alone isn't wasted time. It's time that I need to recharge so that I can give my best to my family and friends when I feel able to do so. That was a hard lesson to learn, but it has made an enormous difference in how I feel daily.
These are all pretty straightforward habits to start. The hard part is remembering to do these things when times get tough. One thing I know for sure is that being consistent will pay-off.
The decisions and stresses you face daily may not be the same as mine, but I'm confident that you also want to make your family and friends happy by managing your stress and showing up for them. During your quiet times of reflection, ask yourself the following questions:
Am I taking time to focus on the things that matter most to me?
Am I managing my stress with positive techniques?
Do I feel supported when I need to take the time to recharge?
I'd love to hear from you. Comment below and let me know how you manage stressful times.
