Amen

Essays

Jun 4

“You can't worry and have faith at the same time.” Wise words from an acquaintance on social media. While I agree with it, what can I do in the meantime to stop worrying?

Well, if it’s sadness and grief I’m dealing with, I personally meditate by saying the rosary, journaling, and praying. If I’m dealing with anger I again pray, and then I run. If you know me, you know that I can’t stand running, but it feels like an emotional release when necessary. The most important part is that regardless of the situation, I pray. In traffic, I pray for patience. Customer service being rude, I pray for their day to get better. What may be an inconvenience may actually be a lesson

The lesson I took from attending Sunday mass this week was if we were made in the image of God, we too need to be slow to anger and quick to forgive. Something that is a work in progress for me. I used to think that I had anger issues until my therapist told me, there’s nothing wrong with being angry when there is something angry about. I was also reminded that it’s normal to use multiple outlets to keep my nervous system regulated. When I say multiple, I really mean multitude, but here are some:

My handy dandy emotional emergency kit:

Read: First things first, you have to take care of yourself and know that you’re the only person you can control. For daily and long term changes I would recommend: