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5 Steps to Conquering Overwhelm {Episode 211}
639 Plays2 years ago
Are you feeling overwhelmed? This episode is especially for you! As moms to 9 and 10 kids each, Audrey and Bonnie have experienced overwhelm, and are sharing the 5 steps they use to conquer it so they can be the kind of mothers they want to be.
Mentioned in this episode:
Episode 120: Overwhelm
Episode 19: Talking to Kids about Sex
Episode 64: Body Image for Moms
Episode: What to teach your kids in a post Roe vs Wade World
About Outnumbered the Podcast:
Two moms, parenting a combined total of 19 kids and finding joy in the chaos.
Join Audrey and Bonnie as they share real parenting tips for real people through humor, advice and compassion.
Whether it's tackling how to teach kids to work or discussing where to turn when you're all out of patience,
these two experienced moms are here to offer authentic tips for raising children joyfully.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Managing Overwhelm
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everybody, welcome to episode 211 where we are talking about being overwhelmed and we are sharing five tips, five steps that we go through to pull ourselves back from the edge of the cliff called overwhelmed.
00:00:14
Speaker
Number one, label your feelings. Number two, acknowledge those feelings. Number three, identify the thoughts causing those feelings. Number four, intentionally choose new, better, positive thoughts. And number five, make it a habit. We're gonna dive into each and every one of those in depth and we're so glad you're here to listen.
00:00:40
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Outnumbered the Podcast. I'm Audrey. And I'm Bonnie. We are experienced moms to a combined total of 19 children. In our weekly episodes, we explore relatable topics using our perspectives of humor and chaos. Tune in for advice and encouragement to gain more joy in your parenting journey.
Listener Feedback and Interaction
00:01:04
Speaker
Okay, guys, are you ready for us to talk to you about being overwhelmed? We know you are. That's why we're doing this episode, but we wanted to start off. We got a really sweet review, so Bonnie's going to share that one with you guys now. Yes, this one is entitled Post-Rovy Wade, meaning our episode called that one.
00:01:22
Speaker
I've been listening for a while now and I love all your episodes, but this one cinched it for me. I want to be one of your best friends, LOL. I have such a hard time finding mothers who relate to my life, my beliefs, and my priorities in raising my almost eight children. I surely wish I had a big sister like you both to help me along the way and give me confidence. Thanks for what you're doing.
00:01:37
Speaker
Oh, we are your big sisters, girl. We are. We're here. She also had a question about when it's appropriate to talk to kids about sex and specific topics, especially like abortion, things that are a little bit more mature. So if you haven't yet listened to our episode, this review was by Bob Jess Drock. If you haven't listened to that episode on talking to your kids about sex, that will probably give you a lot of insight. If you still have questions, feel free to email us.
00:02:03
Speaker
at outnumberthepodcastatgmail.com. And that goes for everyone. We love getting emails from listeners. If you ever have an idea about a podcast episode you'd like us to talk about, or you have questions, or you want a further explanation about one we've already done, please shoot us an email. We'd love to hear from you.
00:02:17
Speaker
Yes. And by the way, congratulations on that almost eighth baby. Yeah, that's right. All right. You guys, those of you who have been listening for a while probably remember that we did a previous episode on overwhelm, but we're still hearing from you guys that so many of you are feeling overwhelmed. Like, I don't know, is it a January thing?
00:02:37
Speaker
It must be. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we're going to add more thoughts, tips, strategies, um, and things we've learned actually, since we did that other episode, that other episode was 120. So here we are on 211. So we've talked about quite a few things between then. And we've also been growing and educating ourselves and learning new things. So we're going to share all that with you guys today, but just consider this overwhelm 2.0. It's a companion episode to the first episode that we did 120 on overwhelm.
00:03:06
Speaker
Yes.
Reflecting on Overwhelm and Personal Growth
00:03:07
Speaker
And we feel like we probably should have done a whole lot more because we're outnumbered. The podcast, it should be our MO that we feel overwhelmed a lot. But we're going to tell you why we don't as much anymore as we used to in our early days, because it really is a skill. And I promise you it is something that you can unlearn, that automatic capacity of just allowing everything to just wash over you and feel like you're never going to escape.
00:03:31
Speaker
Yeah, it doesn't have to be your default reflex anymore. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, so all that to say, it's okay. We feel like this too sometimes. But because we have a lot going on, we just can't get stuck in this place of overwhelm. So we are going to add more strategies, more solutions for getting out when you find yourself thinking, oh no, the overwhelm is coming. What do I do next?
00:03:53
Speaker
Yeah. You know, with 9 and 10 kids between us, you start to sink down into those doldrums and then you start to hear, mom, I'm hungry. Mom, please come wipe me. And you're like, okay, life goes on. I have to do. I can't sit in the corner crying with my chocolate anymore. Got to go wipe a bum. All right.
Five Steps Overview
00:04:11
Speaker
All right. So we're going to share five steps we use to
00:04:16
Speaker
deal with overwhelm so that we can get through it and move on because those bums got to be wiped. That's right. That's right.
Step 1: Identifying Emotions
00:04:24
Speaker
All right. Step one, label your feelings. So this is really, really important fact. So I highly recommend you go Google feelings wheel.
00:04:32
Speaker
And there are lots of these color-coded charts with like dozens and dozens of feelings on them. So most of us are really not very emotionally savvy. We don't have a high EQ, if you will. So we like to say that we are happy or sad, mad or frustrated, overwhelmed or happy.
00:04:51
Speaker
That's like, oh, we got we got a handful in our back pocket. But there are so many more emotions. And sometimes it can be very, very useful to identify those emotions very specifically, because then you're telling yourself, I'm not just overwhelmed. I am peeved. Something like I'm feeling a little disillusioned or disrupted or any number of kind of more complex feelings can help you tap into really what's going on inside of you. Yeah, so that
00:05:17
Speaker
I have more words than just frustrated. And then I'm like frustrated because the only word I have is frustrated.
Step 2: Acknowledging and Processing Emotions
00:05:22
Speaker
Can't even express myself. But that's absolutely right. One tool we use for working on our feelings is acknowledging them. Yep.
00:05:33
Speaker
what I'm feeling is called overwhelm or stress or worry or guilt. It really does help us to put a name to what we're feeling. And even if it helps you go beyond that and identify, you know what, I'm feeling disillusioned and it feels like a little pressure right here in not, not super bad, but it's like this little pressure or, you know, the pit of my stomach or I get tension between label it, identify it. Let's, let's talk about that thing, what it is. So definitely label your feelings. Yes. Yes.
00:06:02
Speaker
And then shortly thereafter, the next step, step two, is to just acknowledge that they're there and stop resisting them so much. So that's the next thing that we're all so good at is just pushing back on all those negative feelings like, oh, I don't want to feel this. So I go in the corner and eat chocolate or I ignore my children for a while or I, you know, find some escape somewhere.
00:06:22
Speaker
But in order for us to process what's causing the feelings, we just actually have to acknowledge that they're even there. And sometimes we'll label them and just think, oh, this just feels awful. And again, try to resist or try to push away. The opposite of this, I will say, is indulging in them. So you don't want to do that either. You want to acknowledge them, process them without sitting there just going, oh, I'm just overwhelmed all the time and, you know, kind of allowing it to be a self-pity thing.
00:06:49
Speaker
right right that's where the trouble begins yes our feelings are there we've labeled them they're valid but when we get stuck in them we're wallowing we're not we're not moving we're we're stuck and if unless we always want to stay in that place where we're feeling this feeling we've got to we've got to not get stuck with it so this is this is it's tempting like
00:07:13
Speaker
to get stuck there. I mean, because it kind of feels good and our body and our brain are telling us that, you know, this is, it's, it's a negative thing. Like we feed on it. It's like eating candy, you know, then you don't have any energy to eat anything else except another candy bar because you're feeling so terrible. It's, it's like a negative spiral and you just stuck.
00:07:33
Speaker
Yeah, totally, totally. I will also say that what's interesting, you got to kind of be onto your brain and realize that, oh, it's wallowing in self-pity and overwhelm because that means I don't have to take action. So if I can just sit here and feel sorry for myself, then I don't actually have to get up and address the gigantic mess that's in my living room or start working on dinner or any of the other things that I should be doing.
00:07:56
Speaker
So it's kind of our brain's way of just protecting us. Like we feel, we allow ourselves to feel overwhelmed. So there's so much input that our brain is just like, nope, not doing any of that. Our brain is just thinking, I'm just going to shut down now and the mess can continue to perpetuate itself. It'll be fine. Love will be there, right? But then that does lead to other problems like the avoidance of tasks, then the messes pile up or the buffering, right? Where we just start eating food nonstop or sleeping excessive amounts because we can't face reality. So beyond yourself.
00:08:23
Speaker
Yes, I am so glad you brought that part up because it can go beyond just wallowing in it and feeling it. But if that negative spiral continues, then you do get into the emotional eating.
00:08:36
Speaker
And the depression causes you to sleep more and like your body starts shutting down. And all blame is another negative emotion that just tears you down. Like it's the opposite. Oh, it's not me. It's this person or this thing or this situation. So we can identify those.
00:08:58
Speaker
those negative behaviors too that come when we're stuck in step two, acknowledging our feelings. But we really do want to move on and move through that because we're assuming that if you're listening to this podcast, you want to get past that overwhelmed feeling. And none of these stuck in acknowledge, wallowing things are going to help us get over being overwhelmed.
Step 3: Challenging Negative Thoughts
00:09:20
Speaker
We talk actually a lot about that in episode 120.
00:09:24
Speaker
one thing that we said in that episode is ask yourself are these
00:09:29
Speaker
Well, I'm starting on step three here, is to identify the thoughts causing the feelings. This can be tricky because when we're feeling negative emotions, our body can interpret them as a dangerous situation and kick into survival mode. And so we have to resist that, but we have to look at, okay, so we've acknowledged the feeling, we've labeled it, we've acknowledged it, and now we have to go beyond and say, what am I thinking?
00:09:56
Speaker
that's causing me to feel this way. And this is where we really dig in in episode 120. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. It is so interesting that our negative emotions can be misinterpreted by our brain and that we can react way out of proportion, right? Kind of like just this massive pity party gone awry, right? Now we have this fight or flight instinct has kicked in and now life is just a much bigger mess. Now we're like actually hiding
00:10:20
Speaker
from our family and our children because our brain is like warning, warning, warning. I can't process this emotion anymore. Get me away from this chaos and this mess and everything just starts to shut down. It just gets way worse. So paying attention to these thoughts can stop this whole process and you can go, wait a minute. Do I really want to believe that? Do I really believe it? Is it even true?
00:10:40
Speaker
Yeah, and another thought that we mentioned in the first episode was, is this thought helping me? And if you're thinking thoughts that cause you to feel all these negative emotions, especially, here's another one we haven't mentioned yet, anxiety, which has a physical effect on the body. So now your heart is racing and beating and you can't hardly breathe properly, all that. These thoughts are not helping you. They're actually as if you needed something else on your plate because you're already feeling overwhelmed.
00:11:07
Speaker
Now your body's adding things to your plate. So for example, if you're thinking a thought, I can't do this. Like when you hear those words said out loud, which, you know, sometimes in your brain, they're not as real as when you hear them said out loud. So you say, I can't do this. What does that cause you to feel? What, what emotions come up with that? For me, it's like helplessness, like, um, unempowered.
00:11:33
Speaker
If that's an emotion or a feeling like, yeah, how about it's too much for me. That causes me to feel some anxiety and some, some distress, like panic, right? So, you know, identify the thought that's causing the feeling or say, say the thought aloud and then see how much by amplifying it with your voice. That's how you can see what feeling it's causing.
00:11:58
Speaker
Yes, this is so important. When you do that, it's really, really eye-opening to see how powerful those words are, even when they're just in our brain. And like you said, amplifying it with your voice can make it even more powerful. And you're like, whoa, what am I even doing to myself? Right? Indulging in these thoughts that are making us feel like garbage.
00:12:14
Speaker
So before we go into step four, because step four is going to start to make things feel better, but I want you to make sure that you're giving ample time to really investigate these thoughts and figure out where they're coming from. So sometimes our brain thinks thoughts that we don't really believe, which is kind of silly, like where are these coming from if we don't really believe them? But it's just kind of a byproduct of the life we've led, thoughts that have been impressed on us, things we've heard, maybe even ways we think we're supposed to think.
00:12:43
Speaker
And so to stop and really dive into these thoughts can be really, really powerful. So for example, I can't do this. If you find yourself thinking that thought, ask yourself, what is that all about? You can become emotionally disconnected from that thought by just looking at it. Write it down on a piece of paper and just think, that's so interesting that my brain is choosing to think this. Look at it as if you would look at a friend's thought, you know, with no judgment and no anxiety surrounding it, just thinking, I wonder why I think I can't do this.
00:13:11
Speaker
Maybe it's because I never have before. Maybe I just had a baby and I've never parented this number of kids before. Or maybe I'm trying to get the house ready for a nice dinner. This is not something that comes up often. Or maybe I'm just really doubting my abilities. Do you see what I'm saying? So just probe it. That's so interesting that I am going immediately to. I can't do this instead of this is hard or any of the thoughts that could lead up to this. I'm just kind of jumping off a cliff.
00:13:34
Speaker
But really, really diving into those thoughts can give us so much understanding into how our brain is working and give us a lot of compassion for ourselves, which is really important. Yes. That is
Step 4: Changing Thoughts to Shift Feelings
00:13:46
Speaker
so true. All right. So step four is the intentional thoughts. And this is the part that often makes us feel better. We just want to make sure that we are paying attention to those negative thoughts and understanding where they're coming from before we jump to a new thought that we want to think.
00:14:00
Speaker
So what's interesting is that we very often want to change our actions before we ever address the thoughts that are causing our feelings. And that's a tricky thing to do. Instead, we need to focus on those thoughts and decide, do I want to keep this thought that I can't do this? Is it helping me in any way? Is it serving me in any way? How can I change it or even just slightly shift it to make things better for me?
00:14:23
Speaker
Yes, because the only way to change the way that we feel is to change the way that we think. So ask yourself, turn it, turn it around, turn it on its head. What do you want to feel? Do you want to feel joy? Okay. Think thankful thoughts. Think thoughts of gratitude. Do you want to feel loved?
00:14:42
Speaker
Think loving thoughts toward other people. So sometimes that helps me to start at the back end. How do I want to feel? Do I want to feel happy? Think happy thoughts. It sounds corny, but try it. Try it.
00:14:57
Speaker
I will also say that sometimes if you're really mired in that negative emotion and that thought that's causing it, this can be almost impossible to do. So try small. Like I said, if you're stuck with this thought, I can't do this, what's a small shift you can do instead of thinking, I can do this. I can do anything. That might not be believable to you. You just had your ninth baby or whatever. I really don't think I can do this. How about something like, I've done hard things before. I had eight kids and I survived that. Or I wonder how much I can get done today.
00:15:27
Speaker
Or, you know what, I think I might need some help. How can I go get that, right? Just kind of this slight shift takes a little bit of pressure off this thought that is causing a lot of emotion that you don't love.
00:15:38
Speaker
So, like I said before, we can change our actions without changing our thoughts, but I like to call that white knuckling it through a situation, right? It requires immense willpower. Think about if you really want to eat something junky, like a big bag of chips or something and you're thinking, oh, I want those chips so bad, and you're feeling this urge. You cannot eat those chips, but you're going to be seriously sitting there in your chair with like
00:16:02
Speaker
Get those chips away from me, right? You could also think those chips would taste good, but I don't want to feel like garbage. You know, changing that thought could think, oh, yeah, I could eat them, but I would feel like garbage. So I might just choose not to. Just to kind of play with the power that it gives you in thinking, do I really, though, do I really want them, right? I don't know if that makes sense, but allowing yourself to get off without using so much willpower is really helpful.
00:16:31
Speaker
Yes. Yes. I really like that you mentioned that because it's more sustainable to change your thoughts than to white knuckle through it because that's not very sustainable. I mean, after I sit there and willpower myself through not eating a bag of chips, I'm going to probably go help myself do a piece of chocolate because, hey, I made it. How could I reward myself for not eating those chips?
00:16:56
Speaker
I mean, really. Totally. Been there. Yeah. But how about if you're sitting there not eating the chips and you're thinking and thoughts, wow, I'm really doing a good job. I'm resisting this. You're not going to go ruin that by smearing chocolate cupcake all over your face, right?
00:17:16
Speaker
And also I wanted to comment on what you said about believable thoughts. I think the point when this came the most into clarity for me was when we have an episode about body image for moms, and we talk about choosing believable thoughts. So if you're struggling with negative body image, you can't go from, I hate my body to, wow, I'm a supermodel, right?
00:17:39
Speaker
But what you can do is you can start with, I have a body. Who can deny that? I have a body, right? So start with the believable thought. There's a bag of chips on the table in front of me.
00:17:50
Speaker
Sure enough, there is a bag of chips right there. That's a believable thought. What you're doing with these tiny baby step believable thoughts is you're training your body to believe what you're thinking. Yes. If you are thinking thoughts that are not believable, you're not fooling your brain. You're going to stop trusting yourself. You just keep trying to pull the wool over me. I don't believe that for a second.
00:18:18
Speaker
Yeah, in life coaching, we actually call these latter thoughts, right? So you start way down below. If this is the one you want to get to, you just start right here. There's a bag of chips on the counter. And you know what? Those chips would taste good. And you know what? Sometimes I like eating chips. And sometimes I don't. You know, we just kind of play with thoughts. You can try them on and think, oh, I wonder what emotion would come from thinking those chips taste good. Versus, I wonder what emotion would come from every time I eat an entire bag of chips, I want to vomit.
00:18:46
Speaker
just kind of try them on and see if either one yields an emotion that will get you closer to your goal or how you want to show up. I love them.
00:18:54
Speaker
Right. And you guys know we're using the silly little bag of chips to help you to make it easier to think about some of these harder, bigger thoughts that are causing you overwhelm because we know some of these thoughts are really scary. If you're the mom and you're thinking thoughts about your kids, I can't do this. That's pretty scary because you're the mom who can do it if you can't. Nobody. Right. That's really, really scary. So maybe try out some of these these five
00:19:21
Speaker
strategies that are these five steps, strategies that we're teaching you on something easy like a bag of chips because nobody's going to die if you eat a bag of chips. I mean, you know, it's okay. So just try it on something easier. Maybe you should give some to those kids too. Maybe they'll stop making you crazy.
Step 5: Cultivating Positive Thinking Habits
00:19:38
Speaker
Uh, okay. Well, so we're to the fifth step and this is make it a habit. It's really, really a lot of work when you are curled up in the corner in the middle of overwhelm. It's huge. It's huge to pull yourself over out of that. But here's a secret that we really want to share with you guys.
00:19:56
Speaker
because we found it and it's working for us. A habit of positive thoughts, thinking positive thoughts about the little things, the little tiny things will keep you from future overwhelm.
00:20:09
Speaker
Yes. Yes. I love that. I also like the thought of finding something that you can use as like positive credit for yourself when things get hard. So this could be something you write down or just something you think about regularly. For example, let's say your kid did something you were really proud of. You could think, you know what? I'm going to shove that back on my positive credit shelf so that when things feel overwhelming, I can go, but you know what? My kid just did that awesome thing. He learned that from somewhere.
00:20:37
Speaker
I'm a great mom." Or take a picture of your house when it is clean that one time a month or whatever and just think, hey, we get there eventually. It doesn't happen every day. Whatever it takes to remind your brain that this current situation that feels so overwhelming is not reality. It's just a snapshot in time and things will always get better.
00:20:58
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, because we're choosing. Like the situation might not change, but if you can change your thoughts about it, you've changed the situation because you've changed yourself in the situation. You know, something that I've talked about several times on this podcast before that I use to make a habit
00:21:15
Speaker
of positive thinking to actually physically change the way I thought is a gratitude journal. I'm calling it a gratitude journal because that is what some people identify Noah as, but what I do, I've shared this before, please forgive me if you're bored of me sharing it again, but it's so effective. I write down five things every night in a journal I keep beside my bed, five things that
00:21:37
Speaker
made me smile, that I was proud of myself, that a kid did to make me laugh, that made me think something spiritual or higher, that made me smile, something, just a little tiny thing. And it could be those candied nuts on top of my salad tasted amazing. That's not too dumb to write down because it's a positive thought. So I write in that gratitude journal every night and
00:22:05
Speaker
A daily spiritual study prayer worship is the key for me that builds up that positive credit, positive thinking credit, those good thoughts, those good feelings for later when I need to draw on them. It's almost like your lows aren't as low because your highs are getting higher every time, every day.
00:22:27
Speaker
Yeah, and here's a reminder about why positive thoughts work. Our brain is designed in a way that it helps us, it keeps us alive, obviously. That's priority numero uno, right? Keep the person alive. And so because of that, it is like troubleshooting all the time. Like, could something kill us? Could something maim us? Could something kill our loved ones? Watch out for all the things that could go wrong.
00:22:51
Speaker
And so even though most of us here in Western society are blessed enough that we don't have to face mortal peril every day, the brain is still like scanning, scanning what could hurt us, especially if we've had experiences where we felt overwhelmed or negative emotion in the past and the brain is like, Oh, here it comes again.
00:23:08
Speaker
Here it comes again. I don't want to feel that." And so just notice when that is happening and you're able to then say, stop brain. Hold on a second. Remember, our kids are fine. We're fine. Everything is fine. And remember that one awesome thing that happened yesterday? And remember that other thing? And I love that you write it down, Audrey. I think that's just brilliant. All the studies have shown over and over and over that gratitude heals all the things when we can focus on what we're grateful for because there's always something.
00:23:34
Speaker
then it puts us in so much of a better emotional state. Yeah, I think we were designed that way, that when we start being thankful, when we start looking for the positive, like we were created.
00:23:48
Speaker
that there's blessing in that definitely. I personally have been thinking about overwhelmed for many years, you know, like ever since I had, I don't know, my twins, 11 years ago. And I decided a long time ago that I was just not going to feel overwhelmed anymore. I just thought that is not an emotion that serves me. I hate it.
00:24:08
Speaker
I'm just not going to do it." And I remind myself every time it comes up that that is an indulgent thought for me. When I let myself go there, it's because I want to feel self-pity and then I just let go of all my responsibilities. So I just think, nope, not going to feel that. In fact, just today we have something happening this evening. We're having a guest for dinner and then another event and there's just a lot that I need that is falling on my shoulders. I have to clean my house. I have to keep my kids in order. I have to make dinner, all these things.
00:24:31
Speaker
And I started feeling it come up again. And I just sat there making my bed thinking, oh, remember, we don't feel this thought because we don't like it. So we're going to change. And so instead I started thinking, what's out of the ordinary today?
Personal Choice and Overcoming Overwhelm
00:24:42
Speaker
Oh, we're having a friend over for dinner. That's all. I make dinner like every other day. We're going to pick up the house like every other day. Nothing has gone wrong. Nothing is no reason to panic, no reason to get stressed out. So that is an option. It is totally OK to tell yourself, I don't want to ever feel this again.
00:24:59
Speaker
and then just choose to nip it in the bud, right? Like Audrey, like you mentioned before, it can feel kind of perversely good to indulge and overwhelm. You know, like, ugh, my life is so hard and blah, blah, blah, nobody understands. And so just notice that ahead of time and just say, no, we're not going there. We're gonna go do something else instead.
00:25:19
Speaker
There is a choice is what I'm saying. Yeah. I know. I know. I always am reminded of a, we had a record when I was a kid, a record player. We didn't have a television. You're so old. Sorry. Go ahead. And there was one with this character. I think it was called Candyland or something. And there was Princess Penelope in it. Does this sound familiar to anybody? Is anybody else as older as I am? And she sang, it was a musical and she sang this song. So she was this princess and she wasn't happy. And she sang.
00:25:46
Speaker
this song, I want what I want and I want it now. Being a princess is hardly any fun. And you know, this song goes on and it's like, everybody's laughing at her. I mean, all the kids listening to this as kids listening to this are laughing at her because she's a princess and she lives in Candyland. Like, what more could you want? And she was this unhappy princess. So whenever I'm like, on the verge of diving off the overwhelm cliff, I'm always like, yeah, Princess Penelope, go ahead, take the jump, you know,
00:26:12
Speaker
dive off into that overwhelm. Life is so hard for you. I love tub of candy down there. Help yourself.
00:26:21
Speaker
Just a little thing that kind of helps me a little bit tongue in cheek laugh at myself and be like, okay, fine, I'll get up and go wipe another butt. It's fine. I love that. Princess Penelope, that's a good one. And don't forget the self-compassion, friends. We joke about this because that's how we work, but if you are really, really feeling like life is more than you can handle right now, don't forget to give yourself a hug. Go get a hug from a real person if you need to, that it's okay to feel this way, but also remember that you have the power
00:26:51
Speaker
to control these thoughts and feelings. So I also personally like to remember that probably 99.9% of what goes on in my life, I chose. I mean, other people make choices and do stupid things, but I still get to choose how to react to them. And so when my kids drive me crazy, I'm like, but these were my choice. And when homeschooling is feeling overwhelming, but I chose to do that too.
00:27:13
Speaker
and I chose to build a business and I chose to have a home on some property and I chose to have these wonderful blessings in my life that then sometimes yield stress because they require care and maintenance and all those other things. So just remember how much of your life was your choice. And even if there's some of it that wasn't your choice, you're still here for a reason, right? You haven't hopped on a train to Zimbabwe or something because you want this life in some way or another. Remind yourself of that and just take your power back. This is your choice.
00:27:42
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And we're laughing here at the end. But you guys, if you're overwhelmed, we're sorry that you're feeling that way. And we're sharing this episode today because we really, really don't want you to feel overwhelmed. We want you to feel good. So we hope something we have shared today has been helpful for you guys that you guys can step out of that
00:28:04
Speaker
pit mud hole called overwhelm or those negative feelings and that you can start feeling better because we want to share this stuff that's worked for us because we know what it's like to feel overwhelmed. I mean, we're there. We get there. We get close to that sometimes, but we really want for you guys to feel
Seeking Help for Overwhelming Feelings
00:28:26
Speaker
better. And so we want to say last of all that if there's something that you're feeling that is too much for you,
00:28:34
Speaker
and like you're on the verge of harming yourself or your kids, please, please go seek out medical help, medical advice, something to help you, to give you a boost before you can work on your thoughts and your feelings. Maybe you just need, maybe there's something chemically in your body that's not right. So please, that caveat here, because we really care about you and about your families and about your kids, and we want the best for you and your family. So that's what we've got for you guys today. Have a great week. I'm Bonnie. I'm Audrey, and we're outnumbered.
00:29:05
Speaker
built up, but not overwhelmed. That's right. Outnumber, not overwhelmed. All right. Thanks for listening friends. Click the link in the show notes to subscribe to our email and never miss another episode. Show us some love by leaving a review on iTunes or sharing the podcast with a friend. Thanks for all your support. We'll talk to you next week.
00:29:30
Speaker
Did you hear somebody just call somebody? Oh, I didn't hear what they were saying. Okay. Well, that's good. When we were on our vacation in Florida, I banned the word idiot. I got so tired of hearing it. I was like, okay, anybody else uses that word on this vacation we're going home? And they're like, I'm just glad to hear your sweet kids call each other mean names too. I'm like, where is this coming from? I've never
00:29:53
Speaker
called anybody in front of you. What's wrong with you? But now we're home from vacation. So what do I do now? Hold on. Let me check. I do have a sitter helping. Bonnie, you're on mute. That's why I can't hear you. I'm like, I'm Bonnie. Who in the house to remember who I was? She forgot her name again. I'm just overwhelmed.