In a world where more is better, we challenge and say less is more. Starting the holiday season, grounding on what is important may make the difference between suffering or enjoying this time of the year.
As we enter the last quarter of the year, the natural pull is to speed up, to get ready for the holidays, finish all of the things we wanted to accomplish this year, meet goals and on and on it goes. On top of everything else, it is simply too much.
Toomuchness is the anxiety of trying to keep up when all you really want to do is slow down.
If you (like SO many people we are talking to right now) suffer from toomuchness, it’s time to get spacious. For us, toomuchness feels like bricks piling up on our chest. we can’t take deep breaths, we can’t be present, even good sleep doesn’t wake us up.
The only solution is less.
Remove the bricks. Own less, do less, consume less, care about less. Even then, it will be too much sometimes and you’ll have to do some editing.
These are the steps back to enough:
Say no.
Take back a yes.
Opt out of anything that isn’t very important to you.
Intentionally carve out time that requires very little of you.
From social media to social engagements and anything in between, put yourself in a two week time out from the thing that causes you the very most toomuchness.
Stop comparing. Other people doing too much isn’t a good enough reason for you to do more. They are tired too.
Sometimes a life event will throw you into toomuchness overnight and you’ll have to let everything else fall away.
Other times, it’s a slow onset but as soon as you feel that first brick, start editing.
Enjoy rather than suffer the season, by intentionally identifying what makes you thrive and embrace happiness.