Today I’ve declared to be my Break-Down Day. Sounds terrible right? Actually, it means I’m going to take time to stop, think, feel, let go and be better in the end. So much has been going on in my life that I just need to stop and let it all sink in. My mind feels like it’s just scrambling around trying to remember everything I need to do so I get everything done. It’s gotten so I feel like I have to keep what others in my life are doing in order; which is not my responsibility to do. But leaders do that type of thing, especially women leaders who are used to doing a lot for others as well as everything she has to do.
So today is my Break-Down Day. No, it’s not the type of day where I just “lose it.” It’s a day when I literally “break-down” the realities of the situation, take time to understand what’s going on, and get my direction in line again.
Breaking down the realities. When life starts to come at you fast and furious, it can seem that you have no space to really live. Taking time to just stop and look at what’s really going on in your life gives you the chance to get a realistic perspective on the situation. You will find that you do have time to relax, even if it’s just a few minutes. What happens is that instead of relaxing, you let the stress of your situation fill up every minute. You might even fill in the extra space of time with busy activity that could actually wait until another time. Another way to fill the time is with worry – worry to the point of letting your mind make up tragedies and possible bad consequences that really have no place in the situation. Take time to break-down the realities of what’s going on. Write it down. List out 1. What’s really happening, 2. the possible consequences – good and bad. By putting your worries in writing you will be able to get a sense of what’ really real or not.
Take Good Care of Yourself. When the stress is at a peak, overwhelm burdens you down and it’s hard to take a deep breathe, reaching for junk food is only natural. Instead, this is the time to bless yourself with the best foods possible. Even if you’re not, go vegan for a day. Eat only fresh fruits and vegetables. Take out animal products that are harder on your system to digest. Go for a rich vegetable soup that’s comforting and nourishing. Eat fruit that’s in season tasting the juicy natural sweetness that will keep you from reaching for a candy bar or a piece of cake that only adds useless calories and saps your energy.
Tap a nap so you get the rest you need. When you’re stressed, the body will be in a fear mode. Instead of being able to relax, it stays in an “up” position. Relax. Let your mind relax and your body. Be kind to you. Rest. Go for a walk, read a book, Break-down the troubles in life for just a moment by resting and going to sleep.
Break-down what going on to get a real understanding of the situation. By rushing around and never stopping to understand your situation you can build in more problems that are actually there. Stop building up issues you don’t have. Meanwhile, face the issues you really do have. Maybe like me, you are having that type of day when you realize how much you’ve been through in a short period of time. Maybe you don’t have anyone to talk about it all with and it’s just built up inside. Maybe you’ve been taking care of someone else and everyone is asking how that person is doing, forgetting the stress that’s put on you. Today is your day to break-down the fact that you need care too. You need to cry, or scream, or run till your heart rate gets really fast, you need to sweat, or punch a pillow or just sit in a corner and huddle up like a baby. It’s your moment, your time, it’s all about you just for today, right now. Take advantage of that. Understand you need this time because you are all you have and you are precious and good and needed – needed to the point of exhaustion.
Break-down your next steps. Get the directions you want to go in back in order. I know I’ve certainly gotten off the path of my purpose. Instead of being able to keep that line moving to where my goal sits, I’ve taken twists and turns I can’t even recognize. If someone asked “where are you” right now I couldn’t answer. I’m down the street and two blocks around the corner from where I last took a look would be all I could say. It’s time to stop and break-down my directions again. You might be lost in place right now too. Stop. Look up. Find the street sign on the corner of where you are right now and get a sense of direction again. You might have gotten so off base that you have to dump much of what you’ve been keeping busy doing. That’s fine. That’s progress. Maybe it will all make sense now. That’s great too. Everything you’ve been doing will count for something as you get back on track.
Have a Break-Down Day as a gift to yourself. Take a look at where you are and break-it-down so life finally makes sense to you again.
