Sometimes We Need the Reminders We Give

Camille McDaniel (00:29)
Welcome back to another episode of Christ in Private Practice. This week I’d like to share something I want to start off by just sharing my situation. So this week I realized that I did not have a podcast episode prepared and that almost never happens. I’ve been preparing to speak at Richmond University, which I did speak last week, to their class who has now graduated and that was really cool.

Then I was working to get the CE library ready for launch for Christ in private practice and that officially happened on Monday of this week the 11th of May so that Some of the podcast episodes that you listen to you can actually get continuing education credits for now and There’s additional trainings that I will be offering throughout the months that you can

actually either listen live or they will be available for home study because Christ in Private Practice is now an ASAP provider by NBCC for live and home study. So I was getting all of that ready for this week and then I was just handling normal business responsibilities and family needs and everything else that comes with, you know, life and business ownership and leadership and somewhere in the middle of all of that.

caught myself actually realizing I don’t have an episode prepared for this week, and then I thought well, maybe I can kind of squeeze in an episode and You know what after all of the things that came ⁓ Basically that happened that came to pass

And I had to laugh because I’m like, look at me

helping people not to overproduce to the point of exhaustion. And here I am trying to overwork my way through exhaustion. And honestly, I’m recording this right now and my son is literally sitting right beside me.

Coloring because while I was even trying to get this episode out he was knocking at the door Because he’s like mom. I thought that you were going to you know come next to me, and so I thought you know what? You know what I am I’m trying to focus and get this bless you and get this episode done and

had to take a moment where I realized maybe this is part of what I need to hear as well for myself because sometimes we become so focused on getting things done and producing and building and accomplishing and keeping everything moving that we struggle to fully lean into what’s right in front of us. Who’s right in front of us?

not because we don’t care, not because we don’t love those around us, ⁓ but because there’s just a lot of pressure to kind of push us along and slowing down starts to feel uncomfortable even if you’re helping other people to do that in the work that you do every day. Even if you’re helping other people to set boundaries and to actually follow through on those boundaries, it can sometimes be uncomfortable when it’s your turn.

And I think that many mental health professionals and business owners, caregivers, parents, ministry leaders, high capacity individuals understand exactly what I’m talking about. Sometimes we are so accustomed to functioning under pressure and pushing through and not paying attention to the exhaustion in any real way that makes you actually stop, right? That we keep a pace.

that’s not healthy. And we start to kind of normalize just constant output. We normalize fatigue and we normalize just functioning even when we’re depleted. And because of the work that we do and the impact that it has in households and communities and in corporations and in the body of Christ, it is hard sometimes for us to recognize when we need to just

step back and instead we just justify overextending ourselves. But you know a scripture that came to me this week literally like came by something I was doing and I had the laptop open to YouTube and literally a video popped up and Proverbs 23 4 through 5 came into my awareness.

And that proverb says, do not overwork to be rich because of your own understanding. Cease while you set your eyes on that which is not for riches certainly make themselves wings. They fly away like an eagle toward heaven. And what stood out for me was not simply the idea of money. It was the warning also.

against overworking from just like this place of striving, ⁓ productivity and production. And I think there is a difference between ⁓ stewardship of the gifts and talents you’ve been given in order to create meaningful change in the world and just striving and striving. know, cause stewardship kind of says, I’m going to be working faithfully and yes, diligently. ⁓

but I know the pace and I know when to stop. I know my limits and striving doesn’t really know any limits at all, right? It’s like, if I stop, then everything will fall apart. And those are two different thought processes, two different heart postures. And for many counselors and business owners and ministry leaders and all of the high capacity individuals that are having a lot to carry, a lot to do.

striving can become really normal and and you just really kind of stop recognizing all the strain you stop recognizing all the different things that are stopping you whether it’s you fell asleep in the middle of something or your body is really tired or your ideas stop flowing or you know other people are really they’re really asking for your time and your attention and so today i i just want to kind of

Caution is all, ⁓ I just wanna throw that out for consideration for us to just make sure that we are keeping a good check on how we are functioning, like what pace we’re functioning at. And just keep a little check on have you reached burnout. I know I did an episode on that and I talked about different things and if I can, I’ll link to that episode. But either way, I know we talked about just some things that might need to change.

so that you can prevent burnout because burnout is way more than just a little bit of tired and it doesn’t go away with a good strong nap. So we want to just today just be aware of the pressures that we may be under in our business, in our family, know, personally and how those might be impacting us and just what it means to build a sustainable life without carrying the weight of everything on our shoulders.

Because one of the challenges when we get to a place of over producing and over and striving instead of stewardship is that we begin to notice that our motives start to shift and kind of become a little out of control. So sometimes burnout really starts to feel like it’s meaningful work. Like you, you know, you

care ⁓ only when you’re overextending yourself. Do you recognize that? Like, this must mean I really care and I’m serving well and I’m being responsible and I’m helping other people and I’m providing for my family and honoring all of my commitments and, you know, and all of that is good, you know, so the intention is good, but the effort behind it, the lack of slowing down behind it, the lack of recognizing the exhaustion behind it.

starts to become very, very unhealthy. And so we want to make sure that we are not pushing ourselves to the point where then we are used up, really, and we are burned out. And like I said, you know, the energy stops coming and the ideas stop popping. And we just kind of notice that we’re just in ⁓ this flow of doing. So.

When’s the last time someone asked you how you were doing? When’s the last time you checked in to ask yourself how you were doing? Do you need some rest? Do you need to take a step back? Do you need to be okay with just saying, I didn’t get that episode done. I didn’t get that new program written. I didn’t get that new group’s curriculum finished.

And it not necessarily in all cases, not necessarily mean it’s a bad thing. Maybe it doesn’t need to get done right now. Maybe you need to go take a walk and enjoy the beautiful weather. Maybe you need to lay down and allow your body to really rest. Maybe you need to call a friend. Have a conversation that you hadn’t had in a long time.

I think the hardest thing for high capacity, high striving people, it’s not working. It’s actually stopping. Just stop. Because for some of us, slowing down really does actually create a lot of nervousness ⁓ instead of relief. Yes, even us.

in the mental health field. And there’s always more that can be done. There’s always more that needs to be tweaked. There’s always an email. There’s always a project. There’s always a responsibility. There’s more content and more tasks and more people who need something, right? ⁓ And I think that even technology makes it hard because there’s almost never a natural stopping point anymore.

So for many people, there’s pressure ⁓ slowly. ⁓ and for those of you who I was gonna go somewhere with just talking about the pressure that builds up over time and feels normal. But for those of you who are not on YouTube watching this, you may have just heard a little humming tune. And ⁓ that’s one of my little important people in my life who, like I said at the beginning of this,

Is is next to me because I was like, you know what? I’m not gonna I’m not gonna stress over this This is it’s gonna be what it’s going to be and it’s gonna give what it’s gonna give and I’m going to do it as well as possible But I’m also going to honor the fact that I know ⁓ Somebody does need me at this point in time and that’s okay because I don’t have any more time to have created this episode it was either going to

be what it’s gonna be or it was not going to get out at all. But I did wanna just stress that I want for all of us to take a look at what’s going on in our lives. What’s the sequence of things going on in our lives? And I want for us to look at, is it time for us to slow down? Is it time for us to reconnect with people in our lives? Is it time for us to ask ourselves, are we okay? If nobody asks you that.

Maybe you’re the one who’s always checking in on everyone else. Obviously you’re checking in on clients. That’s what we do. But in our personal lives, is anyone asking you if you’re all right? And if they’re not, you stop. You ask yourself, am I all right today? Is there something I need to pay attention to in my life outside of productivity and working and deadlines and projects and groups and…

curriculums and the next speech that I’m going to give and the marketing and the advertising. ⁓ And how much am I turning it over? How much of this am I turning over in my prayer life? How much am I giving over to the Lord or am I pushing so hard that I’m almost apparating as if I don’t have any limits as a human being? Have I forgotten that part? Well, we’re human. It’s good to do a little check in from time to time.

And the interruption is not always bad. One thing that I know I’ve thought about is how often we treat interruptions like obstacles. You know, the knock at the door, the child asking for attention, the body that’s needing rest, the emotional exhaustion. Yeah, and sometimes it’s just an invitation to slow down and be wise.

But sometimes fear tries to creep in there and say, if you slow down, if you slow down, look at what’s going to happen. And I want you to just make sure this week that you check that voice. You check that voice because the Lord is definitely not hindered by those interruptions. And he can definitely work all those things out for you. So we’re going to move forward this week.

⁓ We’re going to move forward this week paying attention to those interruptions, seeing if maybe our attention is needed elsewhere. ⁓ I know that I’m going to dive into that for sure. I’m going to be more present with the Lord, more present with my family, and I will definitely have an episode for you next week.

And so I hope that everybody has a wonderfully restful, connected with family, connected with friends, connecting with yourself, connecting with the Lord type of week. And I hope this episode reminds you that slowing down, it’s not a bad thing. It’s not failure. It’s wisdom. And until we meet again, God bless.