Weariness, Despair (Sadness), Anxiety, and Beyond! Dedicated to the Ones We Know

My Dedication to You: In case you have not been privy to my several posts dedicated to the emotional, mental, and physical toll the last several months have had on most of us, I suggest you simply troll through a day's worth of articles from various news outlets. Collectively, they inform me that as a mental health provider my job security is assured. I have written here not only about the various strong affective associations we have experienced with the 'viral vicissitudes', but also provided you with specific mental, physical, social, and even spiritually based strategies available to sustain us through this tough period. Now I am about to share with you one of the simplest but powerful strategies available to all of us, all the time (what have I been waiting for, you ask?!). A strategy I rely on whenever I am feeling weary, in moments of low motivation, during times of despair, and the composite--exhaustion or burnout. 

Known only to You and Me: All of us,  every one of us, knows someone, likely several, whether actively involved in your current life or in our past, who is/was not able to do some of the simplest things in life we find ourselves complaining about. Unable due to either physical challenges/limitations, or due to life circumstances beyond their immediate control. Limited in ways we are NOT. So....it's these people I intentionally bring to mind whenever I am feeling weary, feeling sorry for myself, or on the verge of fatigue. I dedicate either a current workout regimen, part of my day, or even a post in this ongoing blog to them. You might call it empathy or compassion; the other person doesn't even have to know (that's up to you). Beyond the family and friends I have lost who have been sources of inspiration, my thoughts turn to a young man with muscular dystrophy I had the privilege of knowing, a young woman who has spent most of her life in a wheel chair due to cerebral palsy (who would give anything to simply walk, let alone take on the physical challenge I have designed for myself), or a health care worker, a single parent of three who are mired in circumstances not allowing them a moment of rest. Or, finally, a young boy known to many of us locally, who spent a third of his nine years waging a valiant battle against a brain tumor, all the while looking out for others in need. And in so doing, inspiring many generations. 

Self, Oher Serving: My experience with this method is that it is guaranteed to inspire you and me. So, in the spirit of full disclosure, it is actually self-serving, to a degree. But, as I have written to you numerous times, such a strategy serves in getting you outside of yourself (figuratively and literally, I hope), while putting your gaze on others who are in tougher circumstances you are griping about. Stirring you and me to action. Dedicated to THEM; I owe it to YOU.