Overwhelmed and heavy

Life is life, and if we are living it at all, we will all have times when we feel overwhelmed and/or heavy. Like things are hard, and piling in on top of us. Our minds have become cluttered and our hearts have become heavy.

This is a big topic, so I am going to try to keep this short and sweet, simple and easy.

Firstly, lets acknowledge that tough times happen to everyone, Christians are not excluded from life's tough times, we just have the ability to tap into God for hope, help and peace during the turbulence. By choosing to follow Jesus, we are declaring we don't want to do life alone any more in a spiritual sense.

I am an optimist, so sitting in a low mood doesn't sit well with me, I have had to practice accepting and acknowledging when things are tough, but balancing that out with moving through it, not staying stuck in it.

Numbing my emotions is more my default style, until I read some of Brené Brown's amazing writing on this topic, and realised that is not healthy either!

I am not perfect so I still slip into numbing behaviours from time to time, but as Brené says, I at least know that is what I am doing, I allow myself to do it for a bit, then I start to know I need to move out of the numbing and into the working through things.

Here are some tools I use to move through tough times

• Acknowledge the feelings, either by journaling, praying, talking to a trusted councillor or friend.

• Get some time in the bush, around trees and nature. I walk every day I can in a local park and bush. When you are there, here are some things I do to centre and ground me back in Gods amazing love and expansiveness.

• Look up at the light coming through the trees

• Listen to the birds

• Smell the earth smells

• Notice Gods amazing creation

• Hug a huge tree trunk

• Marvel at the changing seasons

• Think about how trees sustain human life on earth and how God intended it this way

• Start to thank him for his creation, for our ability to share in it with him for pleasure and to connect with him more fully

• Talk to him in the bush

• Turn worship music up loud and sing loudly to it

• Practice writing gratitude list at the start of every day

• Get some positive meditation podcast you can listen to that repeats bible verses, prayer and scriptures when you are in bed last thing at night - I use one call "Abide Bible Sleep Meditation" on Spotify.

Remember, God made us, so when we are broken, we always need to find our way back to his presence in a way that he can heal us from the inside out, and show us the way forward. He is our author and creator, he is the one who spoke our lives into being, he formed each us for a purpose on earth, he knows what we need even before we do. He is the ultimate one who can truly help us when we are overwhelmed and heavy.

My favourite scripture on this is:

Mathew 11: 28-30

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

One for worry that is on my phone home screen always:

Philippians 4: 6-7

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Take heart my friends, God never leaves us or forsakes us, this is his promise.

PS: If you do a bunch of stuff and you feel unable to move forward, maybe you need a little help, there is no shame in that, reach out to a councillor, or GP for advise on what to do next, sometimes clinical depression can creep up and settle in. This stuff all helps as part of fighting depression but often those suffering from it need a bit more assistance as well. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

Arohanui

Jen