HOW TO BE LESS OVERWHELMED
(part 2)

We all get overwhelmed by life. It's the way life is. Most of the time it is not our fault, but as my friend Tom says, "Sun burnt and hung-over, who do you blame?" Whether it is our fault or not, there are more things we can do to feel less overwhelmed.

In last week's Dig we mentioned these three tools to fight an overwhelmed emotional state:

Pay attention to your own soul by asking the simple question: how overwhelmed am I feeling? Assess your emotional state so you don't take it out on others.
We need to have at the ready our own unique quick charge way to get refreshed.
Notice your good intentions and, in a sense, congratulate yourself on all you do.

A fourth way to feel less overwhelmed is to fight all the emotions and attitudes that slow us down. This is quite the list: anger, resentment, bitterness, self-pity, laziness, procrastination, dependency, neurotic guilt, and fear. These are the molasses of the soul: not only do they overwhelm our inner world, they also keep us from functioning well in the external world.

I remember when I was a little boy I used to eat molasses sandwiches at the home of my Aunt Reta and Uncle Ivan's. I loved her molasses sandwiches and peanut butter cookies. It seemed I would always spill the molasses on her kitchen table. This was the first of many signs that I was not destined to be a mechanic. So it was especially hard for me to clean up such a gooey mess. I'd ask for another slice of her home made bread and, when no one was looking, I'd mop up the mess and eat it too.

So what mops up the soul-slowing, life-slowing molasses of anger, fear and the other seven habits and dispositions?

You begin by realizing how hard those dispositions are on you and deciding to mop up their mess inside your soul. Fear slows us down more than anything. It can stop us dead in our tracks. And a part of us will like that, because then we don't have to be courageous and do the thing that scares us but will make our life better. The best thing you can do about your emotional poisons is to feel the pain that they give you. Research shows that pain is the greatest motivator to change. So….feel, feel, feel….see, see, see all the ways in which these largely negative emotions and attitudes slow you down, make you feel bad, and prevent you from greater success.

Next, you learn to remember that your overwhelmed state is not all your fault. Of course, if you are sun burnt and hung over, there is no recipe like 1) admitting your fault 2) seeing why you did it 3) stopping the behavior that you do not like 4) forgiving yourself for spilling the molasses all over the place. Notice that the word forgive is composed of for and give, which means that to forgive one self or others is to be in a giving relationship with them or yourself.

Just as we go to the gym to strengthen our bodies, we can go to outside help to strengthen our psyches.

Look at the list below:

Learning how to read
Doing magic
Fixing a blown head gasket in our car
Flying a jet plane
Organizing a wedding
Fixing a torn anterior cruciate ligament

To learn to do any of these things, we would need a lot of help. Learning how to deal with anger or fear or neurotic guilt is no different. We need massive help. There is nothing shameful in that fact. It is the way life is. (And don't forget, your brain and your soul are more complex than a gasket or a ligament—and can get you into far more trouble.)

Here are some options for help. You can talk to a qualified therapist. You can read a great book about one of your molasses issues or talk to a friend about how to function more effectively in light of your self-pity or other gooey internal issues.

If you can't do any of those things, at least do this: Sit down on a park bench when no one is around, and speak to yourself out loud about the emotional poisons within that are overwhelming you. Name them. Hear your own voice. Be your own book. Listen to what your own still small voice of wisdom has to tell you. Act on your own wisdom.

I can promise you this: if you are overwhelmed and if you do nothing about it, it will only get worse. Life greases the track in the direction you are going. But you can put the brakes on when life and you are taking you in a bad direction.

On the American side of Niagara Falls there is a bridge over the river that leads to the Falls. On the bridge is posted this sign for the boaters in the river:

Do you have an anchor?
Do you know how to use it?

A TRIBUTE TO DOUG HAMILTON

The gods of my youth played hockey every Saturday morning at Doug Hamilton's rink in Hildegarde, New Brunswick, Canada. We young boys would arrive early and play our scrimmage games and then the gods would arrive around mid-morning—these being the men from Hildegarde, Lutes Mountain, the Gorge and "faraway" places like Gallagher Ridge. They were the likes of Gordie Steeves or some man named Royce whose slap shots could be heard a mile away. Their slap shots were the polite way of kicking us off the ice. Nothing needed to be said.

For most of us, the 8th wonder of the world was Doug Hamilton himself. He could play hockey with his black rubber boots on and not only keep standing on the ice, but out race us to the puck and stick handle so fast that he would always score within two or three minutes. If he ever fell down on the ice, he would get up us so fast, laugh that great chuckle of his, and be off for the puck.

Did we ever thank him and Marje and Uncle Bert and Aunt Dorothy enough for taking that farm land and turning it into the Saturday night skate where we would hear Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley while we skated round and round and noticed the pretty girls with their whites skates and listened also to the crisp sound of skates on ice? Did we ever thank Doug himself enough for pulling that home-made ice-making barrel with his arms outstretched behind him while he walked up and down the rink making the ice cold, slick and hard? Or how about when we would arrive after a snow storm and he would already have half the rink shoveled by himself? Or did we ever thank him for the hut where we would get our frozen feet warm to the smell of forbidden beer, hot dogs, a hot stove and the sight of George Bulman's friendly smile and always ducking head?

I remember one time when I "had the puck" and Doug came over and "lifted my stick" with that amazing strength and quickness of his--and my stick went 20 feet in the air. He laughed and chuckled and said, "You better hang on tighter to your stick". I think I decided right there that the NHL was not for me.

Doug's rink prepared me for my future psychotherapy career. Late every Spring, we would arrive to a rink that was covered in a foot of water and there would be no hockey for 6 months. And so we had to handle our depression and sadness at the passing of time and the thawing of our ice, our play, and our hockey dreams.

About a mile away from that rink was the church where we would hear about the possibility of salvation. The church was filled with good people but it was no where near as enchanting as Doug's rink. But it did teach me about love and kindness and Easter hope of heaven and I can tell you all today that I wish Easter strength and renewal for all who miss him and I send my love to Marje who held me tenderly and cleaned me up after a puck in the mouth and always was so happy to see me; to Beverly who was always so cute in her white skates, and to young Carl who was always a better hockey player than I was. Your husband and dear father was always an 8th wonder of the world to me and so, for me, heaven will not be heaven unless it has Doug's rink in it and though it is always Spring in heaven the ice will never thaw and, look, quick, there down the ice runs Doug Hamilton with his coat flying, his pants tucked in and out of his boots, and he is laughing and shouting for the puck.

Part 1 2

The Weekly Dig

Join me in THE DIG for wisdom because "wisdom is the under-rated necessity for your life and the guardian of your success." Every week I dig the world for the riches of wisdom because I need wisdom—for myself, my psychotherapy clients and my motivational speaking. In THE DIG I will share the riches with you because I love finding thoughts, quotations, stories, parables and insights that will help you succeed and be happy.
Sign-Up Below

HOW TO BE LESS OVERWHELMED(part 2)

A TRIBUTE TO DOUG HAMILTON

The Weekly Dig

HOW TO BE LESS OVERWHELMED
(part 2)