Navigating Emergencies

Amanda Stout Author

Posted On Oct 01, 2023 |

Oh boy has it been a crazy couple weeks over here! On Sunday September 17 I had to be taken into the ER with severe abdominal pain. 12 hours and several tests later we confirmed that it was appendicitis and I had surgery. This in of itself is a fairly routine procedure, but it was complicated by the fact that I was 20 weeks pregnant.

Praise the Lord, everything went smoothly and I was home recovering by end of day that Monday. However, the recovery period for an appendectomy is 2+ weeks which meant that I was completely out of commission for two weeks.

This time of rest and recovery also gave me a lot of time to reflect.

You see, there was a time in my life when being unexpectedly put out of commission by something like this medical emergency would have triggered anxiety, stress, overwhelm, & everything in my life would have fallen apart.

In that season I lived my life in a constant state of busy, almost frantic, energy, saying yes to just about everything, constantly feeling overwhelmed, behind, & like I never measured up.

I was finding my identity & sense of value in what I did, & I literally did not know how to ask for help or delegate even when I desperately needed it.

At that time in my life, resting was practically impossible for me, even when I was forced to by health or other factors. I would spend any down time stressing about everything I could or "should" be doing & beating myself up for not being "productive" or able to perform to the impossibly high standards I had for myself.

Not anymore. When the recent situation hit, I had no problem making the phone calls asking for help, abandoning my to-do list, & focusing on being present in the moment, dealing with each thing as it came, & maintaining a fearless, peaceful presence of mind as needed.

Once I got home from the hospital I was able to delegate the essentials & put the non-essentials aside, allowing myself to rest and recover both physically & emotionally without any self beat up or stress over not being able to do my normal tasks and routines.

Now that doesn't mean there weren't some moments of frustration because maybe certain things weren't been done as quickly or in the manner I prefer, or because there's things I enjoy doing that I had to put aside for the moment while my body heals.


But none of those moments triggered the intense anxiety, overwhelm, stress, & identity crisis that they would have a few years ago. I saw them as an opportunity to breathe, release control, & possibly have a conversation if needed. And I can't even begin to describe how freeing that has been.

This reflection also caused me to dig into HOW and WHY that shift occurred. I gathered those thoughts together and created a FREE Masterclass sharing how I shifted from that frantic, busy, stressed out energy into the peaceful, flexible, joyful energy I live in now.

This masterclass is available now, and if peace and joy is something you could use more of in your life, I invite you to check it out!

You can access it here.

Categories: Faith, Home Management, Life, Overcoming, Productivity, Time Management