It’s Mental Health Awareness Month.
People who deal with mental health issues (a good percentage of us – actually) are sometimes referred to AS their illness, rather than people WITH an illness. Some examples of this are “He’s a schizophrenic” or “She’s an addict”.
A diagnosis of mental illness should NEVER be seen as a person’s identity OR as an automatic life sentence to misery and struggle.
There is ALWAYS hope for recovery!
“Going where you are most valued” may not necessarily involve a physical change of location or vocation. The peace and security sought may be just the other side of a change of heart…. or a simple reminder that our Maker and not our situation determines our value.
Abuse doesn’t have to be physical.
In fact, emotional toxicity can invisibly penetrate someone’s soul in such a way that the damage may be worse than physical.
And friends, family, and other well-intended people helpers may add to the abuse because they can’t see it, so they question whether it is even happening causing the victim to feel even more confused and unsafe.
That is why I am starting a series of #Haiku (#17syllable poems) called #WarningSigns to help us #CheckOurselves and those we allow in our inner circle for signs of #toxicity.
My hope is to shine light on toxic behaviors so we can recognize it in others, step away when we need to, and eliminate these toxic behaviors in ourselves.
It’s time to step away from #toxicity and into #healing and #peace.
As a survivor of pretty intense bullying as a child from K-12 and some other trauma in my adult life, I am very familiar with the term “triggers.”
But it is only recently that I have started seeing a term out there for a precious gift that has helped me navigate through those triggers and live a beautiful (though sometimes messy) life.
In the same way triggers can transport us to a place of panic and survival mode, glimmers transport us to a place of thriving, peace, joy, and a greater connection to the deep inner strength of our Maker.
The best thing about glimmers?? You can choose to surround yourself with them and train yourself to see them.
We really can’t control triggers since they are so specific to the way we are individually wired and can be something we face often in day-to-day life.
But glimmers?? We can stir those things up!
There is good reason you see so many photos of sky and birds and such on my blog and social media feeds. Yes, I’m glad other people are blessed by them sometimes. But those are glimmers I seek out for myself…. Medicine for the depths of my soul.
My challenge to us today: Let’s focus so much on the glimmers of grace and beauty our Maker so masterfully surrounds us with. In doing this, those glimmers will begin to soften the blows of the triggers.
Peace, friends!
As I sat outside this morning watching birds and preparing myself mentally for the week ahead, I thought I bit about the weeks behind. I thought most about how I spent my time. My burnt up life minutes tend not to be from what I do, but from what I do after I do. 🤷♀️ Let me explain….
I’ll work hard at work for a great referral that doesn’t end up working out. But instead of a quickly assessing and learning what I can do better the next time around, I might spend hours mentally beating myself up and negatively impacting the things I’m doing now.
And posting online on my days off is not the problem. I’m a creative, a writer, and a blogger. It’s a great outlet. The problem comes when after I submit the post, I go back again and again looking for likes and other positive feedbacks or spinning downward because it’s not doing as well as I has hoped.
My goal for this day, this week, this moment is to do, create, be and then release. Once it’s out there, I’ll only hurt myself if I sit and obsess and don’t let that outcome go.
And, as they often do…. My thoughts turned into a little poem….
When I take an honest look
At the time I spend
And the time I waste
It's not so much doing a thing
That takes my time away
It's when I do a thing
But then don't release
And keep obsessing over the outcome
Like checking for likes again and again
Or beating myself up over
The account I didn't win
That is the danger zone
Where my future could fade
Into my own obsessions
I’ve heard this verse my whole life. (And I mean that literally because my earliest memories are of church and Sunday School 🤷♀️).
But because of the way my day started, these words hit me in a whole new way. I have always thought of this verse as an important reminder to have my Maker’s strength, voice, and guidance as the foundation of all I do and “build” in life.
Today, though, the first thing I heard upon groggily waking was my husband saying, “It rained hard last night so I am going to walk around and check the house.” Now, my first thought was appreciation for my husband because, not only did I not realize it rained hard last night, but I’m not great at noticing little things about the house that could become big problems like missing shingles or cracks in the concrete. (I’m probably too busy having conversations with birds and squirrels).
I began to think more my husband’s ongoing assessment and repair of small things that aren’t quite right with our home. All of these little but diligent and ongoing steps he takes to keep our home in good condition are steps toward creating the strong shelter that will be our place of safety and security for years to come.
This made me think of the verse in Psalm 127 a bit differently. Building a house isn’t a “one and done” thing – not if you want it to last, anyway. It is an ongoing process of upkeep and assessment that will enable the home to be a beautiful sheltering oasis for generations. I mean, just look around at ever-changing creation and you can tell that our God isn’t a “one and done” creator. He doesn’t breathe things into being and then leave them to decay. Seasons, night, day, weather, migration, and many other aspects of nature remind us that creation is a process.
This also makes me think of another one of my favorite Psalms, Psalm 139:14, “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” It’s beautiful enough when you think of this verse in the context of our intitial formation and creation in our mother’s womb. But the realization that God just doesn’t “create and release” gives me chills.
Though we may not realize it, our Maker never stops making us and keeps assessing and reforming His creation. There are many days in each of our lives when He lovingly checks us. Perhaps he is saying even now, “Life rained down pretty hard in this child yesterday. I’m seeing some cracks. Time to patch them up!”
I’m not gonna lie…. Healthcare has never been an easy profession. Yes – it is so very rewarding…. but oh so challenging.
And, with the past couple years bringing unimaginable challenges – it’s hard not to have a bit of trepidation going into 2022 filled with thoughts like these:
Will this abominable virus surge again?
Will I lose more colleagues and friends?
How long can we sustain caring for such a large influx of patients?
Will we fight alone or will the general public support us in our battle rather than fight against us in every attempt made to help everyone survive this (masking, social distancing, vaccines, etc.)?
So…. the words spoken as we began our leadership huddle in prayer this morning lifted my heart as they helped silence the fearful voices in m my head:
“God, whatever this new year brings – You come with it.”
You may not be working in healthcare during one of the deadliest pandemics of all history, but I bet you’re going through something. And I imagine you don’t want to be blindsided by more traumatic events as we roll into a new year either….
So take solace in this, friend. Whatever you are walking into in 2022, your Maker is already there.
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” – Psalm 23:6
We all know people who are breathing but are so very far from alive. Maybe we’ve even lived that way ourselves for a season – in a kind of sleepwalking state where we are practically corpses but still forging through the motions of life. In some ways, this is more heartbreaking than actual physical death because it doesn’t have to be that way.
Jesus died and lives again so it doesn’t have to be that way….
Today my heart is heavy for people living but not fully alive. I am praying for the “same power that raised Christ from the dead” to resurrect the living dead from the spirits of lethargy, apathy, and hopelessness that have been preventing them from living the abundant, powerful, hope-filled life Christ died to give them.
May we all live as ones fully alive so the life in us can resurrect others who so desperately need to experience life… real LIFE (Living In Freedom Everyday).
As the prophet Ezekiel did when he was faced with a vision of of hundreds of corpses (Ezekiel 37:1-14, I speak life into “dry bones”. And, in Jesus Name, those weary souls will have no choice but to dance with joy again because my God has given me power to raise the dead!
So if you’ve been feeling dead inside, you’re not reading this blog by I accident. I speak life to you now in Jesus Name. And open your mouth and use your own words to speak life to yourself. No more corpse-like living! It’s time for your resurrection.
Ragamuffin Oasis: Finding Our Places to Just Be 