Anxiety and Overwhelm Turnaround: How You Recharge is Key

It’s easy to get anxious and overwhelmed when you are working hard and simultaneously hold a high standard for your personal performance. You may have many spinning plates on sticks and now with your office across from the kitchen you may be working longer hours than ever.

Unplugging from screen time is essential yet if you keep going a bit longer you can get one more thing checked off your to-do list.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you are always virtually connected. Even if you walk out of the house, you are still plugged in through the phone in your hip pocket. You dare not forget to bring your phone into the bathroom while you shower. You might miss a call.

You bring your phone along to the gym like a workout buddy or in the car to listen to your favorite podcast. This is killing two birds with one stone in the efficiency to multitask while on your device.

Are you in the habit of bringing your phone into your bedroom when you sleep at night? Scrolling through social media before bedtime then checking emails upon awakening? Telling yourself that you need your smart phone for an alarm clock is how you may rationalize having phone access nearly 24 x 7.

It’s easy to get focused on all those projects that you are working on for others but what is happening to those areas you need to work on for yourself? Do you treat your personal projects with the same attention that you do for the projects for others?

My complex is currently under a pigeon invasion. They are everywhere along the roof tops and balcony railings. A hen is sitting on her nest on the deck outside my window. She hardly moves. She is roosting on two eggs all day and all night. Periodically I peek out the window to check her progress. She is focused. There is no distraction. She is dedicated to the two eggs in her nest. Her mate is on the railing standing by occasionally flying off and returning with another piece of straw for their nest. He stays vigilant in his watch over her and the nest all day and all night.

But I notice, there are two eggs on the nest, getting all the time and devotion to incubate and a third egg has rolled off the nest and is lying beside the nest. There is no focus or any attention on that egg that has rolled off the nest. I simply observed this neglected egg for the next few days.

As an apprentice of a very ancient Shamanic lineage, I realize that is no accident that I am witness to this pigeon family and that this presents as a teaching from Spirit coming through the pigeons.  I reflect and ask myself, what does this say about me and my priorities and anxiety with the busy overwhelm that I’m dealing with? I look up my resources. This synchronicity with nature is certainly a “medicine sign” coming with a message to me from Spirit.

As a sign, the gift, or medicine, of the pigeon is associated with fertility and the security of home. Pigeons can always find their way home and are known to breed publicly and rapidly. I reflected on what I am learning from the pigeon sitting on her nest so focused and unwavering in her mission, and also the egg that was not within her scope or attention.  When I related this behavior to myself, I clearly saw what my egg is that rolled off the nest that I am neglecting. I saw the potential life in that lonely egg that was not getting the attention and focus to develop beyond potential and into the fullest expression of life.

What is the egg that is falling off your nest? Where are you so plugged into your screens that you are not prioritizing what is significantly important to you deeply and personally?

Be courageous and explore ways to enhance your RECHARGE; the egg that may have rolled off your nest. Reduce your anxiety, overwhelm and exhaustion from that constant vigilance to stay plugged into your devices and screens:

• Go off screen intentionally every 60-90 minutes by walking outside in the sun and fresh air. Take a lap around your block or driveway.
• Take your meals off screen, no eating and multitasking with screen time.
• Plan outdoors activities on nonwork days to recharge and rebalance your energy when you plug into nature and the elements of water, earth, air and fire.
• Drive in your car without focused listening to radio or podcasts so you can reflect and quiet the mind through inward time.
• Set a boundary around screen time before bed. Leave your phone in the kitchen and buy an alarm clock for your bedroom. Consider making your bedroom a dreaming sanctuary and a device free zone.
• Schedule the fun activities you enjoy into your calendar to prioritize what fills your tank and reboots your focus.