Seasonal Transitions: Falling Out of Overwhelm
September 2002



This month brings many seasonal shifts, the Equinox (move into Fall 9/23), and Mercury retrograde, (9/14 through 10/06 — about every 3 months, Mercury, appears to start rotating backwards through the solar system . . . there is a message for us, we are asked to slow down.) With all this change we may experience a whirlwind of new activities and “to-do” lists for people and feel more overwhelmed, like we too are moving backwards.

There is hope.

Stop the Madness
Before you can do anything, you must grab hold of the wheel and put the brakes on. It may feel like everything is in “have to” mode, but it is up to you to pause your crazy schedule and the race from place to place. Just brake.

Take a Moment . . .
Think for a moment of what is most important to you in the big picture of your life. Is it how much money you make, what kind of work you do, how many activities your kids are involved in, how clean your house is, making sales? At the end of your life, what do you imagine will matter most? Will it be these things or will it be your health, relationships with loved ones, happiness, vacations you took? What will it be that matters most?

There is no direct correlation between working yourself to the bone and being successful or being HAPPY for that matter. So please, before you run yourself into the ground, take a little time and see what makes you feel successful and happy. Maybe you are racing hard and fast to another team’s goal.

A Personal Confession
For the most part of my adult life I have been a serious over-worker and overachiever. Intermittently I received reminders that I was doing too much, be it sickness or fatigue or losing motivation. Finally, through choosing to do less, eating new foods, doing yoga, and introducing 10 minutes of daily meditation (sitting quietly), I feel I have “woken up” to what is really important in my life.

I will always be a hard-worker but it doesn’t mean I have to work 12-14 hours a day. What is currently most important to me is my health, relationships, eliminating the constant muscle tension in my body, and increasing my intuition so I can better serve my clients and make decisions more easily. Through doing less, taking a mere 10 minutes a day to sit quietly, and reading first thing in the morning instead of running to my computer to download email, my whole life is changing!

Simple Shifts
You do not have to change everything in your life to find peace. Are there one or two obligations that you can trim back on? Are you willing to get up 10 minutes early and sit looking out the window or listening to music with your eyes closed? Are you willing to ask others for additional help or get your family more involved in household projects or cooking?

Sitting Quietly
One solution is meditation. Meditation in its simplest form is focusing all attention on your breath to clear your mind of the constant BUZZZZzzz. You may wish to inhale for 5, exhale for 5, or to mentally repeat “inhale, exhale” over and over until you are just thinking of breathing, or purchase a guided meditation CD. Baroque music is often a good match for brain waves while meditating.

Every Day’s a Vacation
Our thoughts create reality to some extent. At one time in my life when I was overworking and feeling unhappy I decided to change the way I thought about my evenings. I started “pretending” that at 5pm every night began vacation. Not only did it get me out of the office 2 hours earlier than normal, it also made me start using my time differently and more enjoyably. Or if you have family, perhaps you can choose a couple evenings for “family vacations” where you pack a picnic, play board games, or make s’mores over the grill. Why should everything feel like work? How can you bring vacation into every day just a little, so when you do go on vacation and unwind your body doesn’t go into shock at the change of pace and get sick? (Many of us have experienced this!)

2 Week Experiment
For the next two weeks while moving into Fall and through Mercury’s perceived “backward movement”, why not see what it’s like to work with nature rather than against it, and slow down? Reduce your obligations, minimize your schedule (block off time for “undisturbed work” and make yourself unavailable to new appointments at those times), sit quietly for 10 minutes in the morning, plan an evening “vacation”, eat nourishing foods and ask for support. If you have people in your life you wish to share this experiment with or who can support you, call them.

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