What Would LOVE Do?
Question. What’s your perspective? How do you view your glass? Half empty or half full?
What a classic question with tremendous depth! This simple question can reveal volumes about an individual.
Thoughts = Power
The words that travel through our minds are powerful. They affect our perspective. Even as you read this, how my words are interpreted varies from person to person. This is a subject that both baffles and fascinates me. I could reflect on it for hours.
Forgive me for babbling a bit, but yesterday, October 10th 2020 was World Mental Health Day. This year, this day weighs on me heavily and has gotten me thinking once again about how much more support is needed.
No doubt, there is much uncertainty in the world right now. Collectively, our lives have been upturned. It’s hard to remember life as we once knew it.
We are clearly in unchartered territory.
This virus plagues us and our loved ones. It elicits fear in varying degrees.
Everyone seems to have a difference in opinion which potentiates further division.
Loneliness is becoming an epidemic.
Not surprisingly, I have urged many patients of mine to limit news and media, as much as possible, as it has become a clear trigger for stress. Simply turning on the TV these days is all that it takes.
Stress. I have spoken about this with my patients for years. When asked the simple question, “how do you cope with stress?” many stumble and aren’t sure what to say next. It’s a question they had never been asked before and certainly not one they expected from me.
There is no question that we live in a stress-filled society. Everything is fast-paced. We have less and less time and more and more tasks to accomplish in every given day. Tragically, this pandemic has only amplified this to a near breaking point for many.
We NEED to talk about this.
Stress resiliency is a foundational pillar of health. Stress resilience and immune resilience have a lot in common. Today, in light of this pandemic, it is an area where I’ve consistently felt the need to do more. Simply put, the limited time shared during an office appointment does not allow for such conversations to blossom in a way that is transformative and meaningful.
My hope is to fully integrate this into my practice, to help engage and provide concrete support and actionable steps to implement into daily life.
Our children. Oh, our dear children! They also need this now more than ever.
We all know how our children know us better than anyone else. One look and they know, right? Children pick up on our stress and learn how to manage their own stress simply by watching us in action. We, ourselves, learned to manage stress from our own parents. Recognizing and acknowledging this repetitive cycle is important.
Mindfulness, stress management and coping strategies need to be taught to all ages. Proactively working together to build stress resilience is essential. I envision families making these changes together. What a beautiful thing that would be!
I know that there is a better way to approach this. Supporting individuals, families, and uniting community is a start. Some thoughts that I have are breathwork sessions, workshops, meditation sessions, group series, nature walks and other fun activities targeting all age groups. I realize that this pandemic limits us in terms of how we can meet, but I know that we can think creatively outside the box. We are fortunate to be able to leverage technology to keep everyone safe and connected.
Virtual hugs? Yes please!
We absolutely need to pencil in the time for this.
If you have any other ideas on how I can support you, please do share them with me. Let’s brainstorm together. Together, we must unite and help one another.
In the interim, Iet’s pay closer attention to our own thoughts and the story we’re telling ourselves day in and day out. If not already, let’s choose to consciously switch our perspective to a “glass half full” perspective.
What an amazing quote by William James, a leading philosopher and psychologist at the turn of the 19th Century. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. Considered the "Father of American psychology."
The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.
-William James
[loud applause, cheering, hooting, whistling]
Let’s remind ourselves of how far reaching a simple act of human kindness can be. A smile. A helping hand. A simple heartfelt gesture.
When faced with adversity, a simple question I often ask myself is, “what would LOVE do?”
A question I believe can broaden and shift any perspective.
Much love to all of you!
