One of the ways you know you need Breathing Room is when what normally comes easy for you “all of a sudden” becomes an arduous, monumental task.
The reason I say “all of a sudden” is not because it happens suddenly, but because it feels like it happens suddenly.
This sneaks up on people, and one day, one night they realize how exhausted and tired they are. They lie in bed not wanting to move; they sit at their desk unmotivated to do anything. They look at their to-do list, and it feels like an insurmountable task.
One thing I’ve noticed in my life that is a clue that I’m living at an unsustainable pace is that I have a hard time making a decision. It could be as simple as what to make for lunch or where to go out to eat, where you find yourself paralyzed, standing in the kitchen unable to make a choice.
The other “all of a sudden” moment comes when the things you are good at – your job, building something, preaching, writing, running a meeting, creating a budget, balancing a checkbook, planning an event – feel like they take all day and suck all the energy out of you.
We wonder why.
This used to be so fun, so life giving.
I want to encourage you to pause here for a moment.
Do any of these things ring true for you right now?
Here’s my question: What is your plan to make sure that the place you are in right now doesn’t become a lifestyle?
Often when we are tired, rundown, frazzled, whatever word you want to give it, we say, “It’s just a busy week, month, or season.” How do you know that week won’t become a lifestyle?
Yet what seemed like a busy fall becomes a hectic winter that rolls right into a frenzied spring and on and on and on.
Why?
We never stop to ask the crucial questions.
Here are a few:
- What is difficult for me right now? What is stressful?
- Are those things normally stressful?
- If not, what is happening in my life right now to create that stress?
- Can you name the last time things slowed down for you?
- Do you find yourself hoping that something in your life gets cancelled?
That last one is one I’ve started to look out for in my life. Here’s what I mean: Have you ever had a dinner planned or a meeting scheduled, and you are hoping against hope that it will get cancelled? You think, “If they got sick and had to cancel I wouldn’t be mad about that.”
If so, that’s a sign that you are living past what is sustainable.
