Empowerment vs. Overwhelm

I just went through a weekend of intense overwhelm! 😳

It was a joyous occasion, my mamas 90th birthday celebration…and it was! She was over the moon, the restaurant was perfect as we had a private room, I put a slide show together, wine was in abundance, 3 of her grandchildren were able to attend. It was wonderful. 🎈

The most important part is that she felt celebrated and loved. Appreciated for all that she did for us as kids and all that she does for us now. ♥️

Where the overwhelm came in was in the planning and build up leading to the event alongside the grief of losing an old dear friend the week before. Then there was the wrapping up of work, packing & flying, airline delays, a family of 4 sleeping in a tiny bedroom together at my moms (no sleep), family agendas, potential conflict, constant outflow of money for take out & Ubers and on and on.

I was overwhelmed.

Stressed.

Sandwiched. (I have teens too).

Grieving.

But here is the thing ~ I actually did not recognize this as stress & overwhelm as I was running on adrenaline for 4 straight days on little sleep.

I was in the eye of the storm juggling the family agenda, exhaustion & sadness.

It wasn’t until I got home and sat frozen for hours that I was able to realize the feeling. My family respected my privacy and I spent a good 24 hours recharging. I’m still not 💯 but am getting there.

I’m allowing myself to rest and take it slowly. Push off what is not necessary & focus on regaining my energy & verve back.

This is what I discovered about overwhelm:

Whenever the state of overwhelm hits, you are often submerged in a tide of thoughts & emotions. Sometimes this can cause you to feel paralyzed or stuck. Sometimes it can be hard to think, feel or act rationally. Sometimes this can lead to feelings of sadness and fears of failure. This is the opposite of feeling empowered. 🌟

I’m reflecting & sharing this as so many of the women that I work with are stuck here in overwhelm. Stuck without a path forward. Stuck without knowing they are stuck.

Finding and having the insight to gain power & freedom to do what you want or to control what happens to you is the first step. To be empowered is a powerful state where ‘we’ recognize that control is within our power & we can affect the outcome of our lives. We have choices and those choices matter.

Once we gain a conscious understanding of why we feel stuck it becomes the first step in moving from overwhelmed to empowered.

I just spent the last 24 hours in deep reflection and today I am allowing myself the space to grieve, rest and give myself permission to pause.

If you are experiencing this feeling of being stuck & overwhelmed I invite you to connect with a loved one to talk about it or reach out & connect with me ~ I would love to hear about your midlife journey and career & see how we can move you forward powerfully. rani@livearebellife.com
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#overwhelm #midlifewomen #midlifecareer #midlifecoch #midlifejourney