Feeling Overwhelmed? This 3-Step Practice Helped Me Push Through

When I was a radio host, I used to have stress dreams about being locked out of the studio just as the song was fading out—I couldn’t get back in to talk! As a public speaker I’ve had dreams about standing in front of large crowds and realising I’ve forgotten my notes. So, when the launch of Friendship Lab drew near recently, it was only to be expected the stress dreams would return. One in particular stands out.

Stress Dreams

In the dream I was walking along a high, narrow ledge, carrying a backpack. As I inched cautiously along, trying not to slip, I kept facing barriers. Each time I tried climbing around the barrier, something would fall from my backpack into the depths below. Unlike other weird dreams where your mum wins Celebrity Big Brother or your dog starts talking, the meaning of this dream was more straightforward. Our launch plans were behind schedule, our Facebook and Instagram accounts had just been badly hacked, and just as we were about to post invitations for our launch party, a software crash wiped all of my contacts. Facing barrier after barrier, that dream showed how anxious I was about the whole thing falling apart.

A 3-Step Practice

The apostle Paul says not to be anxious about anything. It would be trite advice if he didn’t then say what to do instead. First, he says, focus on God, not the problem. This takes the spotlight off the bully and on to the problem-solver. Next, he says turn your problems into prayers. I did this literally, writing a sentence prayer in my journal for each of the problems we faced each day. Then, he says be grateful for all that’s good, beautiful, and excellent. I did this by listing all that we’d achieved and the barriers we’d already climbed, remembering how far we’d already come.

Focus. Request. Gratitude.

I’d love to say that from that moment on I had the serenity of a dove and laughed merrily in the face of adversity. Actually, some difficult days still lay ahead! But the more I followed that three-step practice, the less anxiety I felt. Everything ultimately came together in time, and we launched our charity with a night of celebration that ranks as one of my happiest moments.

“Today, I’m refusing to be overwhelmed.”

Work stress, family tension, money pressures, health problems—it isn’t hard to have something in our lives trying to dominate our waking and sleeping. Today I’m deciding to refuse to be overwhelmed—by being grateful for how far we’ve come and by turning my problems into prayers.

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First broadcast on BBC Radio 2’s Scott Mills Breakfast Show

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