Tenacity to Purpose

We are in week 5 of the national lockdown, and I think that we can all agree that this has been the longest April in the history of Aprils. And at this point in time, I think we're allowed to pretend that April never happened. When your kids ask you what happened in April of 2020, you have my full permission to say that it never happened. With lockdown we have lost a lot of control over our lives. Where we go, how we get there, how we get our work done and how kids are getting through school. Some of us had big plans for this time of year. Some people were about to get married, some were about to buy a car, maybe you were even about to move to another province. Everything that we had planned, is now on pause until further notice. This has created a bit of anxiety because Covid19 is real, and our routine as we know it has gone out the window. As human beings we love to plan because not only does it give us something to look forward to but it also gives us a sense of control. Have yo...

On the first day of lockdown I was running a leisure group with a colleague, and I asked each of the clients to name their favourite game as a child. After each person in the room had had their turn, I asked them to think back to how they felt when they were playing that game, and when was the last time they had that same feeling. I have written on many occasions about our need to keep busy and giving too much focus on work. But one thing that we have lost as a result of focusing on the grind is our ability to play. When was the last time you played, and laughed and felt as free as a bird? It was upon asking my clients that question that I myself was forced to reflect and ask myself what has been stopping me from playing and creating moments where I can experience joy with no sign of anxiety or stress in sight? It is easy to blame our schedules, our responsibilities and even our dependents for having less time to play. But the truth is that we are in control of how we spend our t...

There are days. There are days when it feels as if it is winter. But it is only winter for me. Everybody else is experiencing summer together. They are enjoying the rays of the sun, basking in its warmth.  There are days. Days when coffee isn't enough to wake me up. When chocolate no longer lifts my mood. And music doesn't do the trick because I can't even decide which song I want to listen to. There are days. Days when I wish that I could sleep for 12 hours straight, so that I have less of the day to deal with. So I can talk less and keep the fake smiles to a minimum.  Days when it feels like it isn't just cold outside, but inside as well. And when those days come. Because they do come. I choose to wait it out. No use in fighting. No use in using the little energy that I have. So I wait. I wait for a sunny day. I wait for the clouds to go away. Because trying to fight it sometimes only makes it worse. And there...

The human body is a well-designed machine, able to fight off diseases, able to house and nurture new life until it is time to give birth. Our brains, being the motherboard, controls function to the different parts of the body. It has control for things like appetite, emotions, even our motor functioning! It still amazes me how much our bodies are able to do and how much they are able to handle. But have you ever gotten to a point where the body is fatigued? Even the thought of getting out of bed has already depleted the little energy you had? Well, when we don’t manage our stress levels well, our body tends to throw out warning signs to let us know that we need to slow down. What kind of signs, you ask? Let me tell you… Being a health professional working specifically in mental health, I see a lot of patients come in complaining of how at first their energy levels went down, and then they struggle with headaches or even tummy issues. I myself struggled for a while with chest pain...