A Simple Strategy to Fight Overwhelm Today

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

I made a life or death one the other day; whether or not to let my 14-year-old drive me to the airport. But seriously, every one of us faces hundreds (if not thousands) of decisions daily. What to eat, what to wear, which movie to go to, what book to read next (this is a major decision, because life is too short to read bad books).

And the choices we make for tomorrow actually begin today. We have to think about what time to get up in the morning before we set our alarm tonight. And on and on the list goes. Each days decisions bleeding into the next’s with little to no boundaries.

But I probably don't need to remind you of this. I bet you feel this pressure too. So many decisions, so little time. It can leave us all feeling overwhelmed and stressed, with little margin and emotional space for things that truly matter.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s ever felt paralyzed by so many choices. The other day I was walking through Walmart and noticed a display of kitty litter, which then led me down a rabbit trail of thought as to what type of kitty litter would be most effective. And then I started thinking about all the cat litter commercials I’ve seen…and good grief! It’s crazy—and I don’t even have a cat!

Maybe you’re not feeling overwhelmed by cat litter, or the selection of sausage at your local grocer (unless you live in Louisiana, because, you guys, they have entire aisle-length refrigerated sections full of all different types of it!), but I do think there’s one thing that lies behind all of our feelings of overwhelm and decision fatigue, and it might surprise you.

I recently ran across this quote in Emily P. Freeman’s new book, The Next Right Thing (which is fantastic if you struggle with making decisions—look at me helping you find your next good read). In it she said,

“…Trust that God won’t let you miss your own future.” (p. 60)

When I read that I thought, Aha! There it is. The real reason that I feel so tired and stressed out by all the decisions that need to be made.

Fear.

I’m afraid. Afraid I’ll miss out. Afraid I’ll make the wrong choice.

We’re panicking over every decision because they feel so heavy and important.

We feel overwhelmed because we convince ourselves we have to make all of these choices alone. I know I’m often guilty of thinking God isn’t interested in the little details of my life. Or even that my community of friends and family can’t be bothered by the decisions weighing on my heart. But fear loves to get us one-on-one. Isolated. That’s when he can get us to make decisions and choices rooted in fear rather than love, trust and clear-headedness.

That’s why I love this quote so much. It lets me exhale and know that God cares more than I do about whatever it is that’s captured all my thoughts and mental energy. When I bring my decisions to him I’m not alone, and I don’t have to let fear take control.

So next time you’re feeling overwhelm place it’s grubby hands on your shoulders, repeat after me, “God won’t let me miss my own future.”

A LITTLE BLOG UPDATE—I’m starting a new thing that I hope will be helpful to you (and I’d love to hear your thoughts as we go along on how it’s connecting with you and how it can be improved) but I’m planning to provide a weekly roundup of helpful articles, books and podcasts that relate to the topic of the blog that week. So this week, the weekly roundup will be dealing with overwhelm and making good decisions. I hope it blesses you and helps you restore balance and calm to your decision making. You can look for the roundup in your inbox this weekend!

Next week’s topic: Purpose and clarity, and hearing the voice of God