HALF-WAY THERE WITH ONE STEP AT A TIME

Last week, I  went on a short trip to Bali with my brother and his family. The trip was indeed a lot of fun and a memorable one. However, one thing that stood out on the trip was the 200-step climb I undertook. While we were going to do the river rafting, my brother casually mentioned that there was a 200-step climb that we needed to do up and down. While I was a little taken aback to hear it, I was like let's go ahead and do it. Oh my! When I started the climb down to the river, it was one of the most grueling experiences that I faced with a weak knee and limited or nil physical activities. But down each step, my brother and my sister-in-law were there literally holding my hand and making sure I didn’t get hurt. In between I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it, instead of looking at the entire stretch, I just looked at the two steps ahead of me, and that way two steps at a time I climbed up and down 200 steps each.

Life throws many curveballs at you, some of which pull the rug under your feet. The onset of this year was something like that, where my entire world went topsy turvy. But then one day at a time, one step at a time I am rebuilding it. I know I am not where I want to be, but I know my younger self will be definitely proud of how far I have come.

Self Awareness

Awareness of my emotions has really helped me navigate the emotional turmoil of my life. Being in touch with my feelings, being cognizant of them, and labeling them has helped me identify what I am facing.

Mental Health Toolkit

As recently as today I faced an anxiety attack and got overwhelmed about doing something quite important. My immediate response was flight and to just shut myself. Then, I picked myself to read the book, Open When by Dr. Julie Smith (which I highly recommend), did some guided meditation by Plum Village grounded myself, and completed the task I was supposed to do.

Highly recommend following the author too!

 A mental health toolkit is really helpful for emotional regulation. Depending on your preference, you can curate it. For instance, for me depending on the scenario, I use different tools. For anxiety, it is guided meditation, listening to music, and doing some physical activity. For distress tolerance, I am in the process of curating a list from a book by Sheri Van Dijk called "The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Bipolar Disorder".

Practice Gratitude

One other thing that has helped me face my adversities is to practice gratitude. Instead of why is this happening to me, I try to reframe the thinking with the blessings that I have. I read recently that anxiety and gratitude don’t co-exist, so when you feel anxious or bogged down, feel grateful for what you have.

Let go of the outcome.

I used to fixate a lot on the outcome. That is a sign of someone who wants to be in control of the situation. Lately, I just focus on the effort, and let go of the outcome. Honestly, it is not in any of our hands! All we can do is show up and do our part.

I am just praying that I can see my blessings and take them one day at a time, one step at a time.

Thi is me after climbing 200 steps up and down, very pleased with myself :-)