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3 Signs You’re Overwhelmed by Life

You feel it in the depths of your soul.  Something is “off”.

You don’t feel like yourself and no matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to regain the momentum you once had.

You’re plagued by fatigue, and even if your head were to magically hit the pillow for a solid eight hours, you’re sure it wouldn’t cure the ache of exhaustion.

You wonder if others feel the way you do, worn out, worn down, and unable to continue this breakneck pace of life.

Yet when confronted with the age old question, “What’s wrong?”, you can’t quite put your finger on the source of your angst.

If you can identify with the following statements, you may be overwhelmed with life.

3 Signs You're Overwhelmed by Life

You have an irritable spirit.

When suffering from an overwhelmed soul, you may notice an increase in irritability.  This irritablity is beyond your typical bad day, and seems to linger despite your best effort to shake it off.

Even your favorite friends and family members are sand paper to your spirit. They constantly rub you the wrong way and get under your skin.

You may notice that your fuse is constantly lit, and you’re ready to explode at the slightest irritation.

And while you despise the feeling of constant friction, you’re not sure how to rise above.

You’re restless.

Although your to do list is never ending, you find that you’re not as productive and efficient as you once used to be. In fact, your mounting list of demands has left you paralyzed, and the thought of doing anything leaves you restless and unable to check items off your list.

Yet in that restlessness, you’re lacking peace as your responsibilities loom overhead.

You’re blah.

Once someone who used to sparkle and shine, you’re living in a blah zone.  Your personality feels dull and lackluster, yet you wish more than anything you could snap out of your funk.

If you identify with these three areas, then you may be overwhelmed by life.

The modern woman runs on a hamster wheel, racing through life without the chance to savor the precious moments we’ve been given.

The imaginary competition among ourselves to do more and to be the best has left us empty and searching for more in life.

We long for rest, for margin, and for a chance to get to know ourselves and our place in this world.

How do I know the cries of the modern day woman?

Friend, I’ve been there, too.

Plagued by these feelings in my own life since the spring, I’ve been on my knees asking for God to breathe new life into me and to show me how to overcome these feelings of angst.

He has consistently led me to one word to help breathe new life into me and to allow for His restoration:

SIMPLIFY.

God is helping me prune every area of my life to simplify my heart and to block out the noise of this world.

I need is less of me and more of Him.

I need intentional living centered around God’s promises and plans for me.

I need to relinquish all areas of my life to Him and to seek Him passionately.

If you’re like me, longing to recover from the shackles of this world, join me for the new series, SIMPLIFY, to help restore balance, passion, and purpose once again.

This eight week series will explore every area of life from marriage to health to faith. It will help us weed out the unnecessary to make room for God and restore balance to our soul.

May these next two months be a season of hope, realignment, and encouragement, as we seek to make more room for God in our lives and embrace His perfect peace among the reality of everyday life.

How do you fight against feelings of despair and being overwhelmed?

 

This post was shared with Grace & Truth, Mommy Moments

 

 

 

26 Comments

  1. Oh, Sarah, I am so excited for your new series! We all need a bit more simplicity in our lives. I am focusing on balance right now, and it is pointing us both in the same direction….towards less of ME and more of HIM!

    The world tells us to do more, be more, and have more….more, more, more!

    When we set out to live a more balanced life, we must accept that we will do less, be less, and have less in the world’s eyes.

    And we need to be ok with that.

    When we choose balance instead of busyness, we open up time in our lives for rest and restoration.

    Blessings!

    1. Thank you, my friend! I am praying for balance in my own life and am thankful for direction to be able to do so. 🙂 It’s such a blessing to be able block out the noise of the world and refocus our soul on the one who restores, Jesus.

  2. Thank you for posting this! Especially your last part, “Simplify.” I look forward to reading the whole series!

  3. Hi Sarah,
    I am so thrilled I found you on #Titus2Tuesday! I am an adoptive and special needs Mommy as well! I. Understand. Overwhelm. Oh, how I understand!! I am just now coming off on the other side of it. It has been 4 years of nonstop and my soul was exhausted. I am still recovering and finding I have to deal with medical issues now because of the stress, but I know I’m going to be okay. I’ve had to strip away the unimportant. Evaluate my priorities. And give a whole bunch up to God. No more control. I sooooooo look forward to connecting more in the future! I just followed you on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!
    Blessings and smiles,
    Lori

    1. Oh great to meet you! And good for you for stopping to reevaluate. It’s so refreshing to readjust. 🙂

  4. Even the word “simplify” helps me breath in a sigh of relief! Excited about your series! Loved your post. Simplifying our lives to be centered on God and His desires for us is so freeing. Thanks for sharing!

  5. Thanks so much for sharing this. I so relate….and “simplify” can be scary when you feel like you may be giving up some good and important stuff. I was surprised and scared (like stepping off a cliff) by one thing I thought I was supposed to put down, but had a strange peace and lightness about it. Even though there are still some troubles around it, I am trusting the Lord to sort it all out. Yesterday I read from someone, ‘filling up our bag with good, doesn’t leave room for great.’ May we untangle ourselves from all we are supposed to, and Be!
    Love from Holland,
    Jasmine

    1. It’s SO freeing to let go and watch God move. I know that place of blind faith, where He calls us to sacrifice for Him, and that He will be faithful to guide your steps along the way. Blessings to you on your journey!

  6. I knew the answer before I read the post, but I clicked through and read on. I felt like you sat down beside me and said, “Nicole, girl, you are overwhelmed.” …….and I so, so am. And it’s heavy and hard and breaking me down. Ready to read more. 🙂

    1. You are not the only one! I have been there and am just getting out of it myself. Many blessings as you trust God for your next steps!

  7. What a useful and clear “litmus test” for being overwhelmed–or not! “I need is less of me and more of Him.” Yes! Always! When I feel overwhelmed, I usually start throwing things away. This can be a good thing…that junk drawer finally gets cleaned out, etc. But I also find that when I am in this mode, I am suddenly completed unattached to all family mementos, etc. I need to get in the habit of setting aside what I’ve collected and “reviewing” when I’m calmer. 😉 Thank you for this guidance…looking forward to the series!

    1. Great idea to recognize a change of habits that you might regret later. 🙂 Blessings to you on your journey!

  8. He is definitely speaking through bloggers this morning. Your post is the most recent in a whole line of messages toughing on exactly what has been weighing heavy on my heart recently. Thank you for sharing your support!

    1. Wow! Isn’t it amazing how God works?! I love that He met you where you’re at and provided hope along the way.

  9. This is such a convicting and needed post, at least for me. God’s used it to cause me to pause and re-examine my schedule. I’m so thankful for it! Thanks for linking it up with us at Grace & Truth, I’ll be featuring it this Friday for the next round!

    1. Thank you, sweet friend! May God draw you to Him in this season of simplifying!

  10. Hello Sarah Ann,
    I was drawn to your post because I am feeling a bit overwhelmed myself this week. I just returned from an exceptional Blogging Conference last weekend and my head is overwhelmed with “to do’s”. I love the fact that you focus on simplifying things and relinquishing things to God. This is the second post in the last 8 hours that had a similar slant. (I think God is trying to tell me something:) It is my hearts desire for God to be glorified in my writing/ blog. I am learning to trust Him and ask for direction/wisdom . He will give that to me because He promises in His word. Thank you for sharing this thought-provoking and enlightening post! It was an inspiration to myself and I definitely have a clearer mind today as I approach my objectives today. May God bless you and yours and have a wonderful weekend!

    1. I understand and am honored to be used in God speaking to you. Many blessings for finding rest and margin!

  11. Wow! This is a great post. I’m currently so overwhelmed I feel almost paralyzed. Every thing just seems like too much, so it doesn’t get done. I hope to get encourement and draw closer to God and his peace and direction and wisdom of what is important and what is not.

  12. JoEllyn Davis says:

    Looking so forward to reading all your posts. I have been struggling with this and health issues for years and just have not managed to get all the things around my house taken care of. I’m so far behind and feel like everything is closing in around and on me. I know I’ve got to get some kind of handle on these papers, appts and medicine so that I don’t continue to make mistakes but with no support, help or encouragement it is just too much to think about. I’ve started on so many things and even finished a few but some are just way to overwhelming and don’t even know where to start. We all need a support group where we help each other with everything from Bible study to housework. I’ve learned that living life together sure is a whole lot easier.

    1. Many blessings to you as you search for balance! It’s a slippery slope, but I’m finding the more I pray and seek God’s wisdom, the more He shows me where to prune. You can do it!

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