Capacity

Two years post-pandemic onset, here we are. We have been experiencing and dealing with the effects of such a global event for some time, and I expect that trend will continue. I have been contemplating “capacity” lately, what that means, and how we can include that concept into our lives.

I’ve said it before; God gives me things (everything, in fact); I often fail to give credit where it’s due. I worked with a student one day after having capacity on my mind. I used an empty cup to illustrate things. This is an exercise you can do on your own or with others with whom you work. Being a visual person, I find activities like this helpful to bring things into our awareness. It is so easy to ignore, to push down, to carry on, or to try to push through things without taking a moment to pause, acknowledge, and process how we are actually doing. My encouragement to you is to take pause and do just that.

In the illustration, I used two differently colored sticky notes, one to illustrate how full that person is currently with regard to capacity and the other to indicate where that person normally functions. I use quotes with “normal” because that’s how I conceptualize it. That is, we all have a baseline for functioning, a “normal” if you will. With that baseline, there are fluctuations. We will have highs and lows. Most of all, what we are trying to avoid is extreme highs and extreme lows. My “normal” is not your “normal” and vice versa. In other words, our “normals” vary.

In this example, it is easy to see the difference between the two levels. As we “push through,” life tends to add to our cup, doesn’t it? Meaning, it does not take long for our cup to fill and consequently spill out if we’re not taking care of ourselves. Life pours in; important things could potentially spill out, overflowing. When there’s a spill, there’s a mess, and often, we’re the ones who get to clean it up.

As you go throughout your day, check in with yourself from time to time. See where your capacity levels are. Use your self-care or self-management skills to reduce the top sticky to more “normal” levels. Be aware of the urge to carry on and hope things improve. It seems like too often when we do that, we continually add to our cup, creating a spill and making a mess.

Prevented messes are the best messes.

Dr. Jason Newcomb

That’s one way to consider capacity for us. Now, we can also implement this with others as well. Perhaps one way to do this is by saying something like this when making a request: “When you have time and the capacity . . .” Recognize whatever your level is and apply that same kind of thinking when interacting with others. Maybe it’s just me, but it really seems like the more we push on post-pandemic, the greater the possibility of our cup overflowing. Check in with yourself to see where you are. Check in with others to see where they are. In doing so, maybe we can help lower one another’s top indicator.

#capacity #God #Jesus #selfcare #selfmanagement #kindness #self #others #love #compassion