Life in busy seasons. It can feel heavy and burdensome. Like you are dropping all the balls. Giving 1% to 100 things versus 90 percent to 9 and feeling like a rag doll being tugged and pulled and carried everywhere. Swimming so hard yet gasping for air.
I know this place well, as I’ve been here many times and in many seasons.
And here’s what I’ve learned in business ownership, leader of an organization, motherhood, volunteer roles, and all of the other hats one wears that finds themselves in a busy season of life. Feeling light, in control of the balls, confident what is a priority and aligned on what is important is possible. Put on the life jacket.
In busy seasons, it is critical to keep what you value, and what is a priority in alignment. Ask yourself, what is it that you value? For me, Grounded in my faith, Roots that are meaningful with my family, Focus on my mental and physical health, Connections with friends, and Inspiring work among clients and volunteering in my community. When you know what you value, you will more easily be able to decide what needs to be prioritized in your life and in your work. Something that I have learned that helps me with this alignment is assigning rubber and glass balls to things within your value buckets. I have rubber balls assigned to those that if dropped in a busy season, they will absolutely bounce back. I have glass balls assigned to those that if dropped in a busy season, will have a lasting effect in either scarring, breaking, or shattering.
In busy seasons, there are a lot of additions, and somewhere, there needs to be areas of subtraction to avoid the feeling that you are putting 240 volts through a 120 volt line. We only have so much capacity for inputs. So know what you can subtract, with a rubber ball, and adjust accordingly.
Asking myself, “Is this a rubber ball? Or a glass ball?” helps to not feel like I have to carry all of them in the air at once.
In busy seasons, I know that there is potential for a blow back on my ecosystem. I can be short-sided, snappy, resentful, with a dash of negative vibes and lack of patience. When I take on more, I have learned, be aware of your ecosystem, they are affected too. It is critical to make space to ask the questions, “What more support do I need here?” and “Who can I rely on for help?”. The awareness and giving myself the permission that it’s okay to put on a life jacket when the water is getting too deep, and the current too strong.
That’s how I can survive, to live for another season when the water is shallow and waters are calm.
In busy seasons, I know that creating small white spaces on my calendar is necessary to stay out of the red zone of blow back. I treat this white space as sacred. It’s scheduled, and treated like any other meeting I have on my calendar that is a priority. This perhaps could be 5, 10 or even just 15 minutes of time.
Enough time to ask myself some connection and clearing questions. “What is reasonable and realistic right now? Are there places where I’m slipping into patterns of hustling, grinding and doing as means of approval? Is there a place where I need to practice setting a boundary and say, “Here’s where I can help you, here’s where I am unable to help you?” Where do I need relief? Where do I need to say no?
I can’t give away what I don’t have, so there has to be white, sacred spaces for me to get out of my head, into my heart and connect with who I am, and what I need in order for me to show up as healthy and whole for the people and things that I value most. Give yourself the gift of space, to allow grace to percolate.
Giving oxygen to your brain, and reducing noise are critical in managing busy seasons for me. When I have the anxiety feeling in my gut, that is my signal and cue to BREATHE. Just a few deep breaths in, and out will give oxygen to my brain, to calm my nervous system and stay out of fight or flight. I feel lighter, and a boost of clarity anytime I do breathwork. It’s simple, requires nothing but you, and takes a couple of minutes. Reducing noise aligns with the fact that in busy seasons there are already so many planes flying in the air, that it’s tough on air traffic control. Here are some examples of how I reduce noise: by taking a social media pause or break, silencing most notifications, taking walks and connecting in nature without listening to a podcast or music, and turning music or the radio off in the car.
When the noise is quieter, it’s easier to hear yourself think, to see the path in front of you, and to know the next right step to take.
My hope is that we each will consider moving at paces that are in alignment with who we are, who we were created to be, and with restored intention in how we want to feel while doing this thing that is life. Alive. Filled with Light. Shining amongst others. Courageously living and leading connected, restored, and inspired. EVEN in busy seasons.
Written by: Brooke Fitzgerald, Energy Builder with The Restoration Project
