Emotional Bandwidth

Emotional bandwidth.  We hear this buzzword often, but do we relate it to our own lives?  

If you're a computer nerd, especially in the early days of computing, bandwidth had to do with how much data could be transmitted.  We had limits back then!!!

Bandwidth re: computers was measurable. But not so much with emotions. So how do you know you're reaching your emotional bandwidth?  Usually we find out when we end up with a crisis, for me its crying. If I've reached that point, then I am maxed out!! 

Caring for others' emotions, heavy stress, a never ending To-Do list can all take its toll. And in our current society, there isn't much time for self care. 

Way back (in the 1900s!!) stores and businesses were closed on Sundays. You could count on that one day to be less stressful.  But that isn't so any longer. I spent years working retail and weekends were pretty much mandatory. But so were the holidays that others get, including Thanksgiving.  

Finding that place that gives us rest and peace is so important. For me that's my home. A place where I can just be me. Where I can indulge in my hobbies. Or do nothing, if that's what's called for.

Every now and then we each our emotional bandwidth max, and that's the time to pull back, regroup, and relax before we start again.