As a caregiver, employee, parent, partner, or family member, do you feel unable to do what you know needs to be done? Perhaps in one part of your life, you are holding it together, but elsewhere you find it almost impossible to manage. I think you have become depleted by your responsibilities. And it is showing up in places where it can harm other relationships. I know that I have, at times, neglected work because of stress about a relationship, and done less at home when I felt overwhelmed by work. I have been so depleted that even looking at a piece of paper dropped on the floor was overwhelming. The energy to pick it up was unavailable, and no one else was going to pick it up. So it lay there until I gathered the wherewithal to bend over and get it.
So, what can we do when we feel so undone? There are obvious things, such as getting some rest, or asking someone else to step in so that you can get a break, but those may be out of reach, which is how you became so depleted in the first place.
I would like to gather ideas about how to manage/overcome this feeling of depletion. Is it building a spiritual practice for you? Is it just accepting that some things will not happen or will not get done right now? Or is it working to change the societal circumstances that put so much pressure on individuals to carry the load alone, to accomplish and be a caregiver at the same time? Let’s discuss.