I often hear my mom comment to my sister during a particularly stressful episode with her (much-adored) grandchildren that, “It wasn’t like this raising you two.”
Overwhelm seems to be the plague of the 21st century in North America. For most of us, life has never been more convenient than it is today, and yet many of us struggle with keeping our head above water. Sometimes we’re even paralyzed by our daily to-do lists. Why is that?
I think there are many reasons for this:
- too much choice can cause paralysis (as outlined in The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwartz)
- endless access to information and entertainment, and comparing ourselves to others
- working and raising children simultaneously
- constant communication in the form of phone calls, emails, texts and social media alerts
Rarely does anyone feel bored anymore.
But there’s another thread to overwhelm that I hadn’t recognized until I became a Nutritionist.
