overwhelm
2020-07-20
Caring for my mother and taking over her responsibilities - while, of course, still possessing my own long-assumed roles and responsibilities - is a task that some might describe (and have described) as overwhelming.
Perhaps you're not in exactly that boat, but can relate ... The fire drill at the office. A tsunami of (well) a literal tsunami. Home-schooling kids in the midst of a pandemic while trying to work from a kitchen countertop as pets and spouse vie for attention.
It can be overwhelming - make sure you take care of you, too.
(Gee thanks, like I wanted Yet Another Thing To Do.)You must be overwhelmed!
I know how overwhelming that is ...
But, is it really?
Is it possible to actually be overwhelmed?
It certainly is possible that an influx of new tasks / priorities can take one's focus away from other tasks / priorities.
A person can only do so much. And, as that limit is reached, processing power is diverted from less-essential tasks.
And, so, the system adapts.
The only overwhelm is relative to those tasks that got pushed aside.
New tasks come along, others fall off. And so it goes.
Overwhelm is a relative concept, not absolute.
One could argue that there comes a point where further adaptation and shunning of "non-essential" activities is no longer possible and the entity fails.
But, does it really?
It may change form, state, or function. But, is it a failure if still part of the larger system which is functioning as designed? That is, is the possibility of entity failure a reason to avoid overwhelm? Is failure even possible?
Certainly something to consider.
What is this "I" that experiences overwhelm?
Perhaps the only "I" that can experience overwhelm is the one that I have created - ego.
The one that has set limits and made up rules for how things must be, or else!
Am I overwhelmed?
Well, maybe only in the sense that I think I am overwhelmed or think I should be feeling/doing otherwise and am not because I don't have capacity to (since I am overwhelmed).
Thinking I should be seems like a clue. If I think I should be anything, then it is because I have created that notion (an image of my self).
And, golly, for all that thinking and trying to live up to my thoughts (burden enough as it is), when "real life" (forces outside my conjuring or influence) hits and derails me, no wonder I feel overwhelmed.
But, if I step back to see what is actually happening Right Now (not in some made up future or past made-up present), whatever is actually happening is not actually overwhelming Right Now. Or in the next Right Now. Or the next.
Additionally, when the ego has dropped, there simply is no sense of overwhelm because there is no "I" to be overwhelmed. There is just situation and response. Situation and response.
We can only do one thing at a time.