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Thursday, May 28, 2009

Have you ever had one of those weeks months where everything seems to collide? When everything just seems to pile on top of each other until you are ready to cry "Uncle!" That's what it been like for me.

Here's what my life has been like for the past few weeks:

Speaking at a Mother's Day tea
End-of-school parties
More end-of-school parties
End-of-school teacher's gifts
24-hour stomach flu (kept me flat on my back)
Computer crashing
Eighth grade promotion
Promotion dinner for family
High School graduation
HS graduation dinner for family (2 days apart)
Catch-up work because of computer crashing
Husband and 4-out-of-5 kids going camping
Mom making food for said camping trip
Me and 5th child (Dylan) getting ready to go on a 2-week trip to Europe with high school.

That list doesn't even contain my normal work load. I'm guessing your life looks a lot like that sometimes. I'm not complaining about it, just commiserating with women who know what it's like when everything collides.

So, I'm writing this post to sign off for awhile. At least for two weeks while I'm gone.

But I want to leave you with a great piece of advice by author David Allen. I'm just finishing his book "Getting Things Done." In the final section, he's talking about how to overcome the anxiety of having too much to do. Actually, he says, we always have too much to do. The anxiety, he believes, comes from having a broken agreement with ourselves, or someone else.

He's right. I feel horrible when I have too much to do because I always feel like I'm letting someone down. I often feel that way about this blog.

Allen's suggestions for dealing with negative feelings is simple:

1) Don't make the agreement. In other words, say "no."
2) Complete the agreement. In other words, just do it.
3) Renegotiate the agreement. Redefine your expectations of what, when or how you will get something done.

That's great advice for me. I know my personality will always lead me into managing a gazillion projects at once. So I need to learn to manage those projects so I don't always feel like a failure.

The most important thing for me to remember when everything collides is that God is still loves me when I don't get everything done.

God still believes in me when I let someone down.

God still has and will equip me to follow Him wherever He leads.

God still longs to spend time with me in the midst of my busy schedule.

I still desperately need God more than anything else.

In His Love,

Glynnis

4 comments:

Becky Avella said...

Wow, Glynnis, I'm exhausted for you just reading your activities. I just added you to my prayer list and will be praying that you are able to enjoy all that you have going on.

Thank you for this post. I am the type of person who shuts down when I'm overwhelmed. The anxiety can paralyze me to the point of getting nothing done and seeing the to-do list get longer and longer. I'm going to try to get a copy of the book you are reading.

Enjoy your two weeks off! I'm so excited for She Speaks.

Becky

Jeanette Levellie said...

Dear Glynnis:
This is my first time on your blog; I found you through Mary Demuth.

Wow,did I need to read this post! I also get overwhelmed, even panic when I have too much to do. Thank you for sharing these suggestions.

Blessings on your trip,
Jen

courtney said...

i feel better knowing im not the only one who got everything piled up ontop of her for the month of june! Im definetly one of those people who just sleeps until the problems go away. (never works though) and especially having pregnancy brain, im dying! thanks for the post!

Jennifer said...

Goodness....busy doesn't really describe it! Hope your trip is wonderful and refreshing...and a great memory with your son! Always enjoy reading your blog - will look forward to hearing about your trip when you return.