10 Ways to Look Beyond the Exhaustion to Find Endurance

 

A few years ago, my daughter (who was 2 at the time) and I were living in a small, two-bedroom apartment. It was a sweet apartment near the beach, full of gray and blush tones and ruffled throw pillows, with a peach cream pie candle scent that easily filled every room. She was busy, exploring constantly, and I had just started my doctoral program while still questioning my sanity if it was the right time to begin it. I know, though, if you wait for the timing to be right, you may just wait forever. There is no perfect timing, you just have to dive in and hope for the best. Life is busy. So many things push and pull you in so many directions and you have to make a choice for which direction makes the most sense.

One night, it was almost her bedtime, and I worked steadily to finish a research paper 3 hours before it was due. I had worked on it all week, and I still didn’t have much confidence that it would be finished in time. This one particular evening, after feeling off for the majority of the day, I became ill with what I had hoped would be related to something I ate and just disappear, but instead, it was a virus that made me so sick, I could only stand for about 15 minutes before I would be ill again at a time. This continued for two days, and it was awful.

“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.”

Psalm 51:12

I remember looking at my little girl and longing for whatever age it is that children can actually put themselves to bed. She played in the living room for a few minutes until I could gain some composure again, and I reappeared just in time to see her knock my cell phone off of the arm of the couch and onto the wood floor. The screen went blue, I assume as a final cry for help, and then it died a seemingly quick and painless death. It never turned on again, its contents were lost in the abyss, and there was never a solution. I could have panicked over it, but I was too sick to even care in that moment.

I was exhausted, stressed about school, worried about taking care of a toddler and keeping that illness away from her, upset about my broken phone, its lost contents and having to get another, and frustrated about all of the things I would have to catch up on that I had pushed to the side while I was sick.

“Yet those who wait for the Lord
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.”

Isaiah 40:31

A couple of weeks ago, three of the four members of my household, including myself, were sick at the same time, and it was as miserable as that sounds. I had no sleep, no energy, no interest in food or anything else, I could barely stand up for longer than 10 minutes at a time, and I had to take care of three other people, two of which were also completely miserable, and I had a lot to catch up on when it was all over.  I had to cancel things, move my schedule around, and still deal with day-to-day responsibilities like grocery decisions/meal planning, paying bills, work/school, laundry, and four very different schedules that had to pick back up in different places.

It’s easy to burn out on the parts of our lives that come daily, especially when unexpected circumstances take place. What is important to remember is that no matter how mundane or routine those day-to-day moments can really be, there are people who count on you, and there is a God who can restore you.

So I have included some easy strategies along with some Scripture that can help with a renewal of the soul when you feel like your weekly water needs just a twist of some lemon in it.

“You who have shown me many troubles and distresses
Will revive me again,
And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
May You increase my greatness
And turn to comfort me.”

Psalm 71:20-21

Below are some areas that are helpful to incorporate into our daily lives can help unburden the sense of stress or feeling overwhelmed.

1. Find perspective of the situation. Pray about it, have a moment with yourself, understand your position and where your stress originates from. Look at the day or week or month ahead and talk it out with God, especially the walls in your mind where your stress likes to hide.

 

2. Set realistic goals for your week. Know how much time you have in a day, what all of your responsibilities are and how long they take, and know your limits and strengths. Then, you can make a list about your individual days and the things that you KNOW you can accomplish and the things that you can hope to accomplish but it’s okay if not (and I LOVE making lists).

 

3. Focus, independently, on each day’s list. Don’t look at the rest of the week or even think about how you will accomplish everything needed for the month. Think about today and only today.

 

4. Be flexible to the changes that come during the day. You may have an idea for how your day will go. Try not to have a meltdown when hiccups occur in those plans, because sometimes, they do, and you find yourself completely unable to accomplish those original goals. Sometimes, your kid wakes you up before the sun and is so sick that everything else has to wait, among other scenarios. Try to look at the unexpected as potential places for opportunities as well.

 

5. Find what brings you joy, and incorporate it into your day or week where you can. Carve out, even an hour, a week. I love to sew. I love making projects and altering clothes. I love helping the kids with school projects or dress-up “super hero/dragon/fairy” days. I love playing music. I love studying and speaking Spanish. I don’t have time in every single week to focus a ton of attention to any one of these hobbies. But I incorporate them where they can fit, and they bring me joy.

 

6. Drink lots of water. This one is simple but major. Water is good for every part of your body from your skin to your health. Healthy food makes a world of difference as well.

 

7. Try to establish a consistency to your week without tying yourself to a rigid routine. Sometimes, the routine of your week is more exhausting than the specific actions you take. Routine can be the killer of excitement and adventure, so find ways to be spontaneous with your time when you can, or simply take a step in your routine and get creative with the way you carry it out each week.

 

8. Declutter small areas in your environment or life to help you focus. My office is still full of moving boxes and books, and it will get sorted out eventually, but if it is not in some type of order (amidst the chaos), even though we cannot completely clean the room out for storage purposes, then I cannot focus until there is some type of consistency and organization around me. Sometimes, it can just help your mood to look around and see things put where they go without that nagging feeling of “Oh, I still need to put that away.”

 

9. Focus as hard on relaxing as you do about the things you stress over. Whether you like to exercise, practice yoga, meditate, read books, throw hatchets, carve soap animals, crochet, get massages, collect things, play music, or cook to relax, find the area of your life that brings you to the most relaxed and peaceful place and do more of that.

 

10. Let your body rest. As much as you try to accomplish what you can at night or when your kids are asleep, the more rest that you have, the more of yourself that you can provide for others. You will also feel so much better and wake up feeling more refreshed in the process.

 

“The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.

Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Psalm 23

 

 

I hope this helps your spirit.

God bless,

 

M