A Safe Space | May 2023
Happy mental health awareness month, everyone!
One benefit of navigating the pandemic over the past few years is that the stigma around mental wellness is fading. We now acknowledge that if left unattended, the climate of our current culture naturally breeds complexity, anxiety, depression, polarization, isolation, and fear. For example, I just read this fascinating quote this morning:
“Our world today is nothing if not swirling, turbulent wind tossing us around. [Recently], we have experienced economic meltdown, climate countdown, racial throwdown, political breakdown, technology showdown, and religious letdown.”
Now, while I still strongly believe that it is possible to carve out a life that is grounded, peaceful, and even hopeful, it certainly does not happen by itself by simply floating in the chaotic stream of what has defined our modern life.
One simple way that we can cultivate our sanity on a day-to-day basis is by navigating our daily stress well, which comes to us both at work and at home. Fundamentally, stress is not a bad thing but is in fact a human thing. There are at least two realities to keep in mind about stress. First, we stress the most about the things in life that we value the most. Things are most likely stressful because they are important (like why grief is so hard because the pain honors the person and the relationship we’ve lost with them). For those of us who are parents, why do our kids cause us so much stress? It is because of how much we love them that they really drive us crazy! The second reality about our stress is that it is a signal to the body to pay attention to. When we are stressed in a challenging situation, it can create focus, foster and channel our psychological functioning, and even shorten our response time and help us rise to meet the challenge of the given situation. So, when you’re stressed, don’t see it as negative but rather as a signal to pay attention.
Here are some other ideas on how to navigate our daily stress well:
- View stress as a learning opportunity (think Growth Mindset). Experiences are often stressful because they are new and unfamiliar. Of course we will make mistakes when we are in uncharted territory and have never experienced this before! Welcome to your next opportunity for learning and growth.
- Similarly, stress can escalate and even breed fear, and it’s OK to be afraid. Just don’t be paralyzed by your fear. James Finely wisely counsels us to ‘not be afraid of fear.’ Just like when you are stressed, simply breathe, acknowledge the fear, and respond in the healthiest way you can.
- Also, remember that you are not alone, reach out! We Westerners think much more individualistically rather than interdependently. The truth is that we are connected, we are not alone, and we need each other. Please reach out (your Chaplain is available and ready BTW!), and practice being a good neighbor and checking in on each other.
- Finally, keep in mind that this conversation is about navigating normal amounts of daily stress. If your stress levels begin to affect normal, daily mood and functioning, please seek out professional counseling (which is a free resource to you through AC’s EAP). Please let me know if I can help direct you to our outstanding mental health resources. Therapy does nothing but good, as my therapist-wife would tell you. ;)
May you be well, and may you do good.
Adam Gray
chaplain@actx.edu
806.282.5263
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