Is anyone else feeling overwhelmed with life?

Is anyone else feeling overwhelmed with life? On an everyday basis I often feel overwhelmed. I am a practicing Catholic, I pray, make it to adoration when I can, etc. But being a cheerful Catholic just escapes me. Does anyone else deal with feelings of being overwhelmed and/or depression and how do you handle it? Thanks for any responses..

 

Hello and welcome Sparrow.
I fall in and out of feelings similar to those you've mentioned, I often ask myself am I depressed - and then eat more chocolate! So maybe I am least qualified to help you as I am in the same place as you.
Every morning when I'm unloading the dishwasher I listen to the days readings podcast on Verbum Domini. This is food for my soul. It gives God a chance to say something to me if he wants to, but usually he just lets me empty the dishwasher! But I sense that this is the foundation my life is built on.

Listening to Fr Timothy Gallagher podcasts about discernment has taught me that 'feelings' aren't reliable indicators of reality, so my descent into darker, and darker feelings usually continues until I eventually remember this point. Then I visualise Jesus on the Cross snd then tell him I accept the way I feel but that I unite my mental suffering to His suffering - sometimes visualising me on a cross beside Him, our fingertips just able to touch each other.
As soon as I make that union of suffering with Jesus then almost instantaneously my suffering lifts. And I wonder (again) why it took me so long to remember.

I have been given the understanding thst crosses are inevitable facts of life. We have the choice of bearing them on our own or joining them to His.
My crosses (usually some form of mental anguish) are always infinitely lighter when I join them to His.

I hope this helps and doesn't come across as patronising! Mother Teresa says sufferibg is a kiss from the Cross.

 

For me, I can't say I am overwhelmed, but time is flying by and final preperations are nearing end. Knowing a believing what our Blessed Mother has been revealing can create a somber feeling at times. It is very hard to look forward to the era of peace and the second coming of Christ with so much tribulation forthcoming. I know my family and friends probably see my seriousness at times and not my inner joy, but I have hard time with what I call 'stupid talk' when I know the clock of justice is about to strike. I think if my family and friends around me understood what is about to take place I would feel much better knowing that they will not be caught off gaurd. Hardly anyone I know around me does any spiritual reading and they go around planning their next summer vacations or their next social event as if life goes on as usual. The way I see it, if we were living in Noah's time, the doors of the ark would be closed, the rain would be coming down hard and without knowing it the water would be up to their ankles and deepening to their knees very quickly. I sometimes wonder when the people outside the ark started to panic?

 

It's living the moment...nothing before nothing after. At this moment, what do I have to do and then unite that activity to The Lord. There is a demon of procrastination and one of laziness. That will lead you to being overwhelmed and depressed. Read the Gospel and/or contemplate the lives of the saints. They are the hardest working people on earth. Why? Because every moment can be given to our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus never stopped...every moment was for the glory of God. (Prayers, Works and Actions). So be happy, you cannot change the past...the future is a million miles away. Enjoy the moment united with God.

May Gods Will be Done

 

yes, I do. sometimes praying the rosary meditating on the sorrowful mysteries helps. offering it up helps. people on the board can't tell how bad you feel, so please talk to someone like your priest, who may be able to tell if it is a spiritual issue or an issue a doctor can help with, if you feel depressed consistently.

 

will pray for you, Sparrow.

 

I've had my share of crosses lately. Yes, I've felt overwhelmed, but not depressed. Frustrated and angry, but not depressed...although I've had people tell me they would not be surprised if I was given all I was dealing with. Offering it all up every day is helpful, and if you can remember to unite your sufferings with Jesus on the cross, that is even better.

What has helped the most I believe is a daily rosary. I think that is the only magic bullet we have in this world. When I unloaded my frustrations at my crosses in confession, the priest told me saying a rosary daily would probably really help my situation. I tried, but I work a lot, so I prayed daily, but a rosary only about 3 times per week. At my next confession, I confessed my sins (and did not complain about my crosses, different priest, and different church too), and again the advice was the same...a daily rosary will probably really help my situation. I did much better this time, and prayed a daily rosary every day for about 3 months straight...and crossess did not burden me nearly as much. They did not leave me, but the burdon got much lighter. I kind of slipped on the daily rosaries in December, as work really kicked up, and wouldn't you know I was irratable, everyone at work was bugging me, and everything seemed to be going wrong again. I've had a few days off work, and back to my rosary routine, and feel great today.

So, I believe a daily rosary really helps me to not get too down. If you feel pressed for time, there are rosary apps you can download where you can do a rosary in 20 minutes and DM chaplet in 5 minutes. These tools let me fit it in my schedule daily, and I actually meditate better when the prayers are said out loud on the app. Also, I have just started letting the app run while I go to sleep, so I drop off to the rosary. It really helps me. And it has been said that there is not a problem that can not be resolved through recitation of the rosary. I do believe that!

 

I have a great deal of sympathy and empathy for your post sparrow. You are not alone in this. You cannot do it on your own. You need to hand all over to God and tell Him you cannot do it on your own but need His grace and help to get through each day. It is a daily battle - ask for the grace to get through each day.

I would say I have battled a form of depression all my life but I have handed this over to God and its never got so bad that I have had to get specialist help and medication. There are times when it is not too bad and things go really well too so others would not notice, even my wife who I am close to to does not know because I have never shared it. It is something I have viewed as a personal cross and that is why the agony in the Garden is a great contemplation for me as our Lord felt the pain of mental anguish so he understands. He is really with us in this but we cannot feel His presence but He is never closer than when we are in the garden with that feeling of abandonment. It is then that our faith is tested and purified. I am blessed because I have been given a gift of prayer and can pray my way through these things in season and out of season I continue to pray my way through life. Without prayer I think I would have succomb to the difficulties of life and without faith I would definitely have gone under by now. So the Rosary is key for me as I can place myself in each of the mysteries and relate my life to each of them. Every life has its moments of joy, light, sorrow but in the end we will triumph gloriously in the resurrection. I look forward to the day of release from this earthly body when the burden shall be lifted in heaven by the one who loves us despite our imperfections.

But I have learnt not to rely too much on my feelings which are not really a good barometer! Rather, I have come to understand that things will never be as bad I as I think they might be and the good times are to be enjoyed because they never last too long. My answer is to pray, pray, pray. In the small dark hours in occassions when I cannot sleep or the darkness threatens to overwhelm me - my prayer is simply 'Jesus I trust in You' - I say this with every breath to calm myself and by believing this prayer of trust I more often than not fall asleep. Prayer is the rhythm of the soul and resonates with our bodies giving us peace, interior peace.

For me prayer is the oxygen of my daily spiritual life. I cannot not pray the rosary because I love it so much. It has become part of me and it brings me true inner joy and consolation. But we also need to praise God for all of His abundant blessings. We take to much for granted - simple things like running water, a warm bed, our families - we are truly blessed. So praise God for all things, praise God for His utter goodness. I am learning at the moment about the power of praise and thanksgiving. Give thanks to God in all things and praise God in all things. Praise God for all of His attributes, His Holiness, His utter Goodness, His kindness, His generosity, His wonderful Mercy, His amazing Love. Few things unlock the power of grace like praise. No human mind can ever truly understand His utter Goodness on this side of eternity. On the other side, in heaven, God knows that I will be like a little bird singing and chirping my way through eternity in praise of Him who loves me!

I know too that there will be a little sparrow singing in tandem with me!!

God Bless you and keep you safe in His Loving embrace. Always look to Him and not to your feelings. Always believe in His utter goodness. He will never and cannot abandon you for He is your Father. When you feel down or alone give Him praise, give him thanks believing that He is with you even though you might not feel it and He will give you the grace to continue. Ask and you shall receive.

 

Garabandal - thanks for this post. Wonderful.

 

Beautiful post Garabandal. The tears are flowing and my heart is singing.Praise God!

 

I also feel this way most of the time. I become overwhelmed with dialy life and the immense responsibility of raising 8 children. I will pray for you!

 

I found this book amazing. Letting go of our worries and totally trusting God is in charge is helping me cope, along with much help form Our Blessed mother and the saints.

http://spiritualdirection.com/2013/08/26/searching-for-and-maintaining-peace-book-recommendation

 

Thanks for the recommendation Indy. Incidentally, that site looks incredibly interesting, must take a read later on.

 

Wow.. what a fabulous community you have here! Some of you bared your soul to me in response.. and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I see that I have found the best site online for a 'blessed' community of like minds who know what is going on in the world and who can help each other (and myself) through it I was lead here by heaven and I thank you all for reaching out and helping me with your ideas for coping. I am truly blessed by finding you all

 

Offer all your sorrows and sufferings to Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary and offer your "Fiat". "Pray, hope and don't worry" - beautiful words from St. Padre Pio.

 

I love those words by St. Padre Pio and I say it to others, but living by them myself is sometimes difficult. With a large family to worry about, that kind of detachment is not easy. Thanks for the reminder...

 

We have an omnipotent Will with us, therefore there is nothing to fear.

 

"I have been given the understanding thst crosses are inevitable facts of life. We have the choice of bearing them on our own or joining them to His.
My crosses (usually some form of mental anguish) are always infinitely lighter when I join them to His.

I hope this helps and doesn't come across as patronising! Mother Teresa says sufferibg is a kiss from the Cross.[/quote]

This does help! My suffering is almost all mental anguish as well and mostly in the form of watching my children suffer and not being able to help them (other than prayer). They do not understand suffering yet and watching (one in particular) suffer so greatly that he is angry with God for not helping him, can be quite disturbing.. He wants God to help him on his terms and is obstinate to any help due to anxiety issues. So I pray that some day he will understand..

 

Life is full of crosses...thats what we Christians call them. But because we are Christians, we unite our crosses to Our Lord Jesus Christ. It really a life style of how we look at life. The freedom we Christians have...is that worldy crosses does not affect our goal (heaven). It actually helps us to follow our path closer to Our Living God. It comes down to one's starting point. If you believe God came down from heaven to save His people. Then we must embrace and accept the cross. But that doesn't mean we should cause it or dwell in it. We should just accept it for what it is...and move forward giving glory to God.

Easy to say tough to follow

May Gods Will be Done

 

[24] Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. [25] For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it.

one of my favorite pictures: