stressed – Page 4 – Mark Joseph Ministries

This kicks off our 14-week program, where we provide Lesson #1, Being Overwhelmed. So here are some questions to ponder:

How is it that you’re overwhelmed (we all are)?
What are the sources of the problem…what’s causing you to be overwhelmed?
Has Coronavirus exacerbated the situation or are you less overwhelmed than in normal times?

Photo by Nik Shuliahin on Unsplash

In many of the talks that I give, I ask by show of hands who is overwhelmed? Time after time, talk after talk, just about everyone puts their hands up. So many of us are overwhelmed. When times are good we may not realize it, although the pace is no less, i.e. long hours at work, racing the kids around to their activities, doing the chores of everyday life, exercise, hobbies, our social lives, etc. Although overwhelmed, some of us even thrive on the pace.

When things are challenging, like when we have relationship problems, may be experiencing a personal or family crisis, financial issues, or otherwise, we know we’re overwhelmed because we’re feeling it regularly.

The Same Was True for Me

The above was very true for me in my life. I was trying to run a business that had its challenges, demanding tons of my time. Our kids were of the ages that all 3 were incredibly active, but no one had a license yet. So, we were always running them from activity to activity. At the same time my first wife suffered from addiction badly, which really complicated our family dynamic. Believe me when I say that I was OVERWHELMED.

They (whoever “they” are) say “misery loves company”. Here’s the good news…you’re not alone. It doesn’t matter whether you’re just out of high school or college, new or advanced in your career (even retired), wildly successful or struggling. You could be single or married, have a house full kids or be an empty-nester. It doesn’t matter your religion, race, or gender….so many of us are overwhelmed.

Suggested Actions

There are no “quick” fixes to anything in life, including being OVERWHELMED. That said, as we move through these 14 lessons, I’m going to give you things that helped me in my life in going from being Overwhelmed to a place of Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment.

I would suggest:

Think about the questions I pose above. Take them to prayer. In this past blog, I discuss a way to pray, titled Daily Dialogue with God, which would be good to use here.
Think (pray) about and write down 2-3 ideas on how you could reduce the pace and stress in your life…simple steps you can take into your morning or evening routines, i.e. turn off your phone, spend intentional time with your family.
Create a morning prayer routine, taking your worries and stresses to the Lord, asking for His peace. Prayer works…it really does.
Watch this Friday’s video on this same subject….it will be emailed to you.

Please join us next Wednesday for Week #2 when we talk about feeling the need to earn the love of others. As always, please feel free to get to me with questions, comments, or concerns at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph

Week #1 – Being Overwhelmed
Week #2 – Earning the love of others
Week #3 – Lack of self-love
Week #4 – Fear
Week #5 – False gods, False happiness
Week #6 – Life’s Tragedies
Week #7 – Wounds, Resentments

Week #8 – Discovering God’s Love
Week #9 – Forgiveness and healing
Week #10 – Becoming the best Possible You
Week #11 – Path to Peace
Week #12 – Finding your Purpose
Week #13 – You were made for Greatness
Week #14 – True Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment

Have you ever felt like you’re on the hamster wheel of life? You’re trying to make it go faster and faster, watching the world go by around you (outside the glass cage)…

You’re not sure if anyone else knows about the wheel or is on it.
You don’t know if anyone knows you’re on the wheel, much less if they will catch you when you fall off.

You’re exhausted, deflated, frustrated.

You’re overwhelmed.

That’s me of late, having an incredibly full plate…the guy who wrote the book, Overwhelming Pursuit: Stop Chasing Your Life and Live. In my blog of October 16^th, I state that I’m not overwhelmed because I:

Know my “why”
Have a commitment to peace over pace
Am prayerful

Holding to the above as still true, the hours I’ve been working can’t be sustained. So the question becomes…what to do about it.

A couple weeks ago, I had a breakthrough. It occurred to me that unless I was willing to change, that things weren’t going to change. We’ve all heard “the definition of insanity”….doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That’s what I was practicing and didn’t even realize it. I needed to be the change. It’s me who needed to change.

In thinking about it, followed by living it over the last several weeks, I believe that change requires three things:

Recognizing that there’s an issue – so often, we can’t see our own stuff. We’re blinded by our reality, needing someone else to identify what’s going on. For me, it was a light bulb going off, over a couple days, given several discussions with teammates. It was also the realization that I was the only one who could fix it. I needed to change.
Making the right decision – once recognizing the problem, I had to determine the right course of action. For me, that was reducing my meeting schedule and relying more on my incredibly talented team, reminding them of the ownership they already had. For you it is probably something totally different. You need to figure it out (with others), followed by making the decision.
Being committed to the change – as creatures of habit, we typically don’t like change. We don’t like it when it’s done to us. And we don’t like making change ourselves. Being committed to change can be very difficult, but typically is incredibly gratifying.

I’m just a couple weeks in…so I’ll keep you posted. Gratified to date, I hope that it’s sustained, by God’s grace.

BTW, praying through all of it is a big plus. From past blogs, “God loves you more than you’ll ever know, no matter what you’ve ever done”. He’s there for you. Rely on Him, God our Father, Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit who dwells within each of us.

As always, feel free to contact me at Mark@MarkJosephMinistries.com with questions, comments, or challenges.

God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!

Mark Joseph