Thriving in Christ | Burnout, Stress, Leadership, Faith & High Performance

*Do NOT drive or operate machinery - during this Contemplative practice* As the season is changing, sometimes we need a pause to refresh before we gear into action! Maybe your kids, grandkids or nephews/nieces are starting school, or maybe you are! Or maybe you are just moving from vacation mode to fall season, or there is a shift in your schedule or relationships. Either way, here is a Contemplat...

Although we can be really good with boundaries in our professional lives, we wrestle often with maintaining them in our personal lives, in such a way to fully honor our own needs, emotions, and dreams! I've been there too many times, but unfortunately, it led me to burn out when I kept on giving without discernment OR having a nagging guilty feeling when I set boundaries. Type in the comment secti...

Are you caught between the desire to extend help and love to all people and at the same time the need to establish Healthy Boundaries for yourself? There are many books and videos out there with lots of advice about healthy boundaries - about what to say (and not) and when. We can implement them, but many times, as Christian women we feel guilty or prideful if we say no to someone or do not help o...

Have you ever found yourself trying to pray in the evening, to only be disrupted by swirling thoughts or emotions, rehearsing the past day's events or thinking about tomorrow? It's a challenge we all face – these moments when our intentions to connect with God are hijacked by our busy lives (been there done that). But it does not have to be this way! This is such a common problem that it is worth...

How often do we find ourselves caught in cycles of feeling rejuvenated, prayerful and peaceful at times, only to fall 'off the wagon' and end up feeling strained and exhausted due to the ebb and flow of responsibilities and cries of help from the ones we serve? For years, I made myself the promise to break this pattern, only to find myself back in it, over and over. And this cycle is all too commo...

As a Christian Woman, I am sure you had many times when you felt God’s presence and your prayers were answered. And at the same time, if you are like most of us, you also experienced moments when you felt God is silent and started wondering... - maybe I did something wrong - maybe God is testing me - maybe God is mad at me - maybe God is distant and does not hear my cry - maybe I am not worthy ......

Dealing with criticism is a common human experience, but no matter when, where, or how, it can be challenging and can impact our emotions and self-esteem. Many times Christian women either get defensive, say nothing, agree, or try to set boundaries in response. All reactions are important based on the context, but they might not always work. And to make things worse, in the aftermath, the critical...

Do you ever feel like you're on a treadmill, grasping for that 'peace that surpasses all understanding'? And feeling tired at times for endlessly searching for the deeper fulfillment in your life? Most of us are conditioned by our culture to look outside of ourselves in order to find peace, joy, purpose and to connect with God, either through books, inspiration, peaceful nature, church services, f...

While striving to balance professional responsibilities, family, church commitments, and personal well-being, it's not uncommon for uncomfortable thoughts and emotions to arise inside. As a reaction, many times our default is to try to 'analyze' them, to find the 'root' cause and 'fix' them. While this approach has its place, especially when we are guided by a trained professional, in our day-to-d...

In the midst of our busy lives and endless responsibilities, it's easy to forget that we, too, need the same kindness and compassion that we readily offer to others. But even when we want to extend self-compassion, we encounter a few blocks, which I am unpacking today. Here are 2 of the blocks: 1. We mix up Empathy with Compassion - which leads us to feel exhausted at the end of the day 2. And the...

In my conversations with many professional Christian women, I've noticed a recurring pattern – a struggle to find time to prioritize their own well-being in the midst of busy lives caring for others. They juggle the demands of work, family, church, and various roles as caregivers and leaders, often leaving themselves last on the list. The desire to serve and give to others is beautiful, but in the...

I've encountered countless Christian women who, in spite of their accomplishments and being appreciated by others, wrestle with self-doubt, criticism or regrets. And this is especially true if they are going through a difficult season. Perhaps it's the pressure at work, the strain of a broken relationship, separation, divorce, the weight of caring for others, or the loss of a loved one. It could e...

It is common nowadays to be glued to online tools when we have a break, and especially during transition times. For many Christian women, this is a necessity, in order to make sure they respond in time to the demands of their profession, family, friends and community, not to mention staying up-to-date with news, learning, growing, praying, regenerating, etc. This is not a problem in itself - but i...

Many Christian women I talk with find themselves caught in this dilemma: on one hand experiencing the longing to be more contemplative like Mary in the scriptures, who sits at the feet of Jesus, and on the other hand experiencing a constant pull toward action and movement, helping others all the time and worrying like Martha. You might remember the story of Martha and Mary from Luke 10:38-42, and...

I often hear from many Christian women that I talk with that they find themselves "not having enough time." It is a common challenge we face as we pour our hearts into serving others, sometimes neglecting to give ourselves the same level of attention and care. Many times we eagerly wait for the weekends, hoping for a chance to recharge, only to find them slip away too quickly, leaving us with the...

Many people, and especially Christian women, go through a lot of transitions or challenging seasons in their lives - whether it's a loss, a new job, promotion, new responsibility at church, a new baby, empty nest, shift in family dynamics, spiritual plateau, or burnout. And when this happens, there are points of stress, sometimes with negative thoughts or emotions appearing out of the blue in the...

As Christian givers, especially when exhausted after a full day of giving, we can feel at a loss how to deal with difficult or complicated situations or encounters. Maybe your kids are not believers in spite of your best efforts and you don't know what to say to them anymore. Maybe you tried your best at work, but nothing seemed to function today as you've encountered crisis after crisis. Or maybe...

Do you feel sometimes that you are in an unending 'race,' on life's treadmill of some sort, not sure how to slow it down? This is the dilemma of our current culture, with too many opportunities on one hand. But are there also inner forces that keep us stuck in this race, and today you will hear from my guest on this episode talking about one key element to getting off that race, along with he...

Although Grief is a natural and normal response to loss, it is many times a painful and confusing one. Sometimes the loss is obvious, such as the death of a dear one, in which case we might receive compassion, but sometimes the loss is more difficult to talk about (divorce - especially for Christians, estrangement, loss of a pet, moving, the birth of a child, etc.). In my previous work as a psychi...

Sometimes we think of beliefs just from a faith perspective. Yes, Christian faith is based on powerful and life-giving beliefs, but the power of beliefs can be seen in our day-to-day lives. There is a reason why 'fulfilling our own prophecies' is actually a saying and the 'placebo effect' exists in science - they both have to do with the power of beliefs. Our beliefs are very impactful, as they ca...

How many times as Christian Givers - do we get overtly focused on serving others, and then ignore our needs? Although we might feel "fine," what happens is that our needs are 'moved' in the subconscious field, and sometimes the actual needs get "lost in translation." We might drink extra coffee when in fact we need sleep, or eat snacks when in fact we have emotional needs to be seen or to connect,...

For many people, the idea of being 'emotional' is often associated with weakness or negativity. Society often sends us the message that emotions are something to be repressed or ignored. But is it true? Psychological Science brings a wealth of research and ways to think about Emotions and in this episode, I will condense and go over some Nuggets: - a Meta view of Emotional Intelligence with its ma...

Many Givers are helping others so much, that they tend to experience daily stress, just by the nature of their vocation or mission. If this is you, have you ever wondered if there are more ways that you could deal with unexpected triggers or stresses so that you can stay present and peaceful? Because daily stressors and triggers can take a big toll on our nervous system, we cannot just keep going...

Most people make the common mistake of believing that we only have two choices in dealing with emotions: either through Catharsis - where we let ourselves feel our emotions at their fullest or by Suppression - where we prevent feeling emotions. These 2 options can work in certain situations, but in the long run, they might backfire. This is especially a big dilemma for Christian Givers, as they mi...

If you are a Christian Giver and focused on serving others in Christ, you might often feel tired or even exhausted. This was me 10 years ago, until I was able to put together, through all my decades of professional and personal experience to reverse this and truly find condensed ways to regenerate while in action, while serving people with joy, ease and peace of mind. And through working and helpi...