Is My Passion Project Taking Over My Life?

Wife + Mom + Jesus Follower + Daughter + Sister + Designer + Friend + Small business owner . . . and the list goes on and on. I find so much joy in being all of these things. . . So. Much. Joy. 💕💕💕 And yet, much of the time I find myself completely exasperated and overwhelmed. I have to remind myself some days that I truly love what I’m doing. As summer break began for my little ones, Max and Francy, I found myself narrating my life in third person. As two toddlers were running around, destroying our little home one goldfish at a time, my narration went something like this… “And at no fault of her own, she completely lost her mind.” Now the fact that I was talking to myself in third person indicates that, perhaps I was actually having a moment of insanity. Which leads me to my point…When do I allow myself to slow down and enjoy these areas of my life that I find so much happiness and fulfillment? How much of these daily tasks am I rushing through to simply move on to the next?

When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I find it helpful to remind myself why I do what I do. I focus on being a good wife and mother because I love my family dearly. My favorite title in the entire world is “Mommy.” I read my Bible and spend time with Jesus every day because Jesus is my provider and my sustainer. He gives me life in so many ways. Being a designer is what I’ve forever said that I wanted to do. The simple thought of helping someone decorate their space has always brought me so much joy. Being a small business owner allows me the flexibility to wear all of these hats. I remind myself these things when my passion project seems to take over my life.

How do you know if your passion project is taking over your life? Well, for me there was a clear pattern that I noticed in my day-to-day. I pushed as hard as I possibly could, beginning when my feet touched the floor in the wee hours of the morning, until I eventually crashed at about midnight. I started strong in the beginning of the week with an organized, alphabetized and color coded to-do list, and my “drinking from a fire hose method” of getting things done seemed almost doable at first; however, by about Wednesday, my ability to accomplish as much began to wain. I started to question more and more, how much was I really accomplishing if I was compromising my longterm ability to be a good wife, mother, Jesus follower and professional?

Here are a few signs that your passion project may be taking over🙃…

• Neglect of relationships or personal health

• Physical and mental exhaustion

• Lack of boundaries

• Loss of enjoyment

If you’re like me, these signs were pretty easily identified in my daily living. So what do we do about this? I started chatting with close friends and trusted professionals about these patterns of burnout that continued. I want to share a few suggestions that were given to me.

• Build in time for scheduled breaks, prioritizing personal health.

  • Examples of these for me are exercise, drinking water, and eating regular meals.

  • I’m also learning to play Mahjong🀄️! Alzheimers and dementia have affected several of my close family members, so I look to games like this to give my brain a workout!

• Make a to-do list that is approachable and doable, and allow this list to continue over to the next day. Thanks, Callie!

  • I categorize my to-do lists into three sections…

    • Personal

    • Family

    • Business

  • I put them in that order because I have a tendency to put work about everything else. This at least forces me to remember my family and myself on even the busiest of work days.

  • I also have a space at the top of my to-do list for my daily schedule, dinner preparations and household chores.

• I’ve just purchased Rhythms of Renewal by Rebecca Lyons💕. I’m looking forward to more personal growth as I read through this book!

So what are your suggestions of how to prevent burnout? How do you maintain a healthy balance between your passion project and the rest of your life? I love what Paloma Contreras said about balance… “Balance is a fallacy. Strive for presence. The greatest gift I can give anyone in the moment is true presence and connection. Be where you are in that moment.” Thank you Paloma for these wise words and encouragement to be more present!

Hoping this makes you ever more excited about your passion project and was helpful to save you much headache and heartache on your journey!