My friend wrote me today that she has simply been crying, in a state of being overwhelmed.\u00a0 So many people I know are telling me they feel close to the \u201cend of their rope.\u201d\u00a0 For that reason I\u2019ve decided to share my response to her with you.<\/p>\n
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My sweet friend, I am crying, too.\u00a0 Our reasons are very different. \u00a0And yet,\u00a0 they are exactly the same.<\/p>\n
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a) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 overwhelm.<\/p>\n
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b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 uncertainty about capacity.<\/p>\n
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c) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 a sense of being “alone” facing awesome requirements.<\/p>\n
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d)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 self doubt. um.<\/p>\n
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e)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 lack of trust in God.<\/p>\n
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f)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 um. what else? \u00a0Everything else….<\/p>\n
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So today, I edited the phrase IF YOU THINK YOU CAN – YOU CAN….<\/p>\n
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to if you THINK – you CAN.<\/p>\n
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My answer to a)<\/p>\n
I know I have a good thinker. I also know I really can only do one thing at a time, regardless of how many THINGS are standing in line, jumping from leg to leg like they gotta pee, just urgently demanding my attention. \u00a0I can do a thing and then look up and purposely, calmly call, “NEXT!” \u00a0I think – I can.<\/p>\n
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Answer to b)<\/p>\n
If history is our tutor, and history often is…then I have demonstrated throughout my life a tremendous capacity for all things. \u00a0Joy. Sorrow. The whole range. \u00a0I can draw the concludsion that if I have had the capacity to bear things up to THIS point, I likely have the capacity to bear what is before me now.\u00a0 The thing that makes today different is that I am weary. \u00a0And my weariness whispers in my ear the uncertainty. \u00a0“Can you really DO this?”<\/p>\n
The answer is, “Yes.”<\/p>\n
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Answer to c)<\/p>\n
Part of the reason my answer to “b” above is “Yes,” is that I am NOT alone. \u00a0Angels march before me. \u00a0Watch above me. \u00a0And while I cannot see them, evidence of their presence is apparent when I am willing to see the signs. \u00a0My friends are also ever-present. \u00a0At the ready to steel me up, support and encourage me and celebrate with me. \u00a0I am alone, at my desk, doing my drill. \u00a0I FEEL alone. \u00a0My good thinking lets me know that I am not alone.<\/p>\n
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Answer to d)<\/p>\n
Self doubt is a funny experience. \u00a0I’ve marched at the head (and back) of my own parade for a long time. I’m a big fan of personal curriculum development, self-reference and personal authority. \u00a0Ha! \u00a0Somedays even I ask myself, “Who do you think you are?” \u00a0And then, I remember. \u00a0I’m mary anne radmacher. \u00a0I inspire myself and others. \u00a0I am committed to a creative life. \u00a0I want to make the world in which I live better at dusk that at dawn. \u00a0So when I become my own worst critic, full of doubt and dare ask myself, \u201cWHO says?\u201d\u00a0 The clear answer is,
\n\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Answer to e)<\/p>\n
God is used to it. \u00a0That’s why God’s invented so many ways to whisper, “Trust me.” \u00a0How many ways? \u00a0Too many to list. The water out my window is the first of many immediate reminders. \u00a0Water itself is a call to trust in the provision of Spirit…it nurtures everything! \u00a0The tide is another demonstration of trust. \u00a0When the tide goes out…I do not have to stand at the shore with anxiety wondering if the tide will come back in. \u00a0It will. \u00a0It does. \u00a0It always does. \u00a0And when the water begins to rise again and cover the muddy, messy harbor bottom…I hear the whisper, “Trust me. \u00a0This will pass. \u00a0It will go away and come back again.”<\/p>\n
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Answer to f)<\/p>\n
Everything else. I think this is the real heart of discouragement and tears of overwhelm.\u00a0 The \u201cEverything Else.\u201d I said to a friend of mine who complained that he hadn\u2019t done what he promised me because it was near the bottom of his list.\u00a0 And he never seems to get to the bottom of his list.\u00a0 I immediately replied, \u201cThe only way any one ever gets to the LAST thing on their list is if they actually START there.\u201d<\/p>\n
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I can do what I can do today. One thing at a time.\u00a0 \u00a0Anxiety only seizes up the creative capacity I do have. \u00a0If I have no capacity then the message is clear that my soul and my body need restoring and perhaps a nap is in order, or nutritious choices of food, or good water, or a walk. \u00a0And then I remember. \u00a0I cannot do Everything Else right now. I can only do this one thing, now. \u00a0And then the NEXT! thing next.<\/p>\n
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So you and I can participate with our tears, let them wash over us and clean out the cobwebs so we can remember:<\/p>\n
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We have come this far – and grace will take us to the next next!<\/p>\n
And then the next! after that.<\/p>\n
We are far more capable than we feel today \u2013 all we have to do is look at the trail of achievements that are waiting, behind us, to be noticed and remembered.<\/p>\n
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With love,<\/p>\n
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mary anne<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My friend wrote me today that she has simply been crying, in a state of being overwhelmed.\u00a0 So many people I know are telling me they feel close to the \u201cend of their rope.\u201d\u00a0 For that reason I\u2019ve decided to share my response to her with you. My sweet friend, I am crying, too.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[195,193,199,197,198,194,196],"class_list":["post-523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-between-friends","tag-anxiety","tag-friends","tag-inspiration-2","tag-lack-of-trust","tag-love-letter","tag-overwhelm","tag-too-much-to-do"],"yoast_head":"\n