Countdown to Christmas: Days 8 and 7. Anxiety and Overwhelm

I am behind already. 3 days in and I miss one. I’m gonna combine the 2 and call it Countdown to Christmas Days 8 and 7- Anxiety and Overwhelm. Yesterday was a busy day and I should have planned ahead. 

See what I did there… 

In a previous Countdown post I referred to planning ahead. I am still more of a Free Spirit and planning ahead still is a challenge sometimes. (You can read that post here if you like.) 

Cue singing- “Let it GOO, Let it GOOOOOOO… something something something…..”

Back to the post. 

Anxiety and Overwhelm. 

Clearly I have no anxiety about keeping up with blog posts. 

Who deals with these emotions during this season? I mean- who doesn’t would be a much better question. 

Social situations bring out the anxiety like nobodies business. And Overwhelm?!!  Who hasn’t gotten overwhelmed at some point during the holidays.

There are presents to buy and wrap. Food to plan, purchase, cook, serve and clean up after. If you are like my daughter, add in presents to make too. Parties to plan- who to invite, what to serve, what to do. 

Then add in will they like what I buy for them? will they eat the food I make? Who should go on my invite list? And on and on and on.. 

I have one word for you: STOP. 

Yep. Stop. 

Countdown to Christmas: Anxiety and Overwhelm

Take authority over your thoughts- you can indeed do that. According to Dr. Caroline Leaf, taking charge of our thoughts creates new pathways in our brains which leads to better thinking in the long run. (Read “Switch on Your Brain” or “Cleaning Up the Mental Mess” or check out her blog at the link above.) 

The Bible has been telling us that for years and now science is catching up. Look at these verses: 

“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise — dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9 HCSB

https://bible.com/bible/72/php.4.8-9.HCSB

“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2 HCSB

https://bible.com/bible/72/rom.12.2.HCSB

What to do with Anxiety and Overwhelm

As a person who has struggled with negative, anxious thoughts all her life, I know its not an easy thing to do. But it can be done. Here are some things I have done to take charge of those overwhelming, anxious thoughts: 

1. Learn to quiet my mind and take thoughts captive. I take time every morning- since about 1994- to quiet my mind and focus on prayer, thankfulness, and listening to God. It has helped me learn to take control of those runaway thoughts and bring them into order. 
2. I take time to shut off outside influences- music, tv, etc and just let the quiet speak to me. I love it! Often, I just take time to go out into nature and listen to the nature noises. 
3. Grounding. Yes. Grounding. I have written about it before. (and you can find that here.) When I am doing step 2, I take my shoes off or just sit on the ground and focus. Studies have shown that when we connect in that way with the Earth, our bodies respond positively in so many ways! In fact, one way to help calm a panic attack is to connect with the earth by touching plants or standing barefoot in the grass. (Dr. Laura Koniver has more info here on her website and wrote a book about it.) 
4. Lastly, I make lists and cross things off when I complete them. It helps me to stay focused and organized and crossing things off helps me feel accomplished. 

I hope some of these tips help you. If you want to learn more about anything that I wrote about here, you can message me.