The Cure for the Overwhelmed
“From the end of the earth I call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed.”
Overwhelmed?! It is a word I rarely heard used forty years ago. Busy? Absolutely. Overwhelmed? Not so much. Now, most of us are often overwhelmed. Andrew Sullivan, in his article "I Used to Be Human," paints a picture of how his life became overwhelming as he became increasingly addicted to information.
His world became so influenced by the continual demand for new information that he couldn't stop. It was affecting his concentration, his thoughts, even his sleep. Sullivan would try to stop the vicious cycle of news, gossip, sports scores, and social media sites. Isn't it ironic that we spend so much time posting on Facebook and Instagram that we don't have time to live our lives, which means we have nothing new to post? The demands of social media leave us with the feeling that we are living our lives in an ever more shallow circle of distraction.
My wife grew up in the rural mountains of south-central Pennsylvania. In the 1970s, there wasn't much in the way of entertainment in her small part of the world. She only had one channel on the television, for example. To this day, she cannot play Trivial Pursuit television edition, because she didn't watch the programs. But before you feel too bad for her, she recognized the gift of time. She threw herself into the piano. She began playing the piano and organ for her church's worship services by the age of thirteen. She read books and spent time preparing and supporting church and community activities. Her community was tight-knit because they spent time together and knew each other so well.
It is much harder today to develop a sense of community or nurturing talent. Today, begin to reclaim your life. First, sit down and list what you would like to do with your life. Then, create a plan for how you will bring those plans to reality. Finally, make a list of the things you will have to give up to find the time and energy to enhance your life. And while you're making your list, do not forget to write down how you will deepen your faith in God. Faith is an eternal journey. It is so much more worthwhile than checking to see what Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey did today, or what the latest cute kitten video looks like. Backing away from technological addiction will save us from being overwhelmed, but also might make us a little more interesting.
