Tag: anxiety

Surrendering Control

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Over 10 years ago, I taped a prayer onto my kitchen cupboard where I would see it often. It was an extremely challenging time in my personal and family life. I felt anxious, stressed, burdened and grieved. I needed the daily (sometimes hourly) reminder that not everything was mine to worry about or control.

Perhaps you have heard of the Serenity Prayer. It is a prayer whose origins go far back into history. The first part of the prayer is used in many recovery groups. One version of the prayer was written by Reinhold Niebuhr.

“God grant me the Serenity to accept the things - I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; and Wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will; That I may b ...

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Posted in:

  • Anxiety
  • Control
  • Prayer
  • Stress

Tags:

  • Control
  • anxiety
  • focus
  • serenity

One Year of COVID-19: Finding Balance Amidst Chronic Stress

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For one full calendar year today, life as we knew it, has been on hold.

 

On March 11, 2020 local news stations began announcing the first big changes due to COVID-19. Colleges would begin the transition of classes from in-person to online learning or suspension of classes entirely. News of colleges plans spread among the state, and shortly thereafter K-12 schools followed suit. By March 13, it was no longer safe to visit residential, health care or juvenile centers. Shortly thereafter, restaurants, gyms, coffee shops, hair salons, and many more small businesses were closed. And on March 23, 2020 the first statewide stay-at-home order for all non-essential workers was implemented.

 

As I write this blog on March 11, 2021, exactly one year since this pandemic struck our mitten state, Nation, and globe, I noticed the presence of one of my first deep exhales since this halt on “real life” h ...

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Posted in:

  • COVID-19
  • Self-Care

Tags:

  • anxiety
  • coping
  • self-care
  • stress
  • uncertainty

A Personal Response to COVID-19

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It's been an... interesting week.  If you had told me last week Tuesday or Wednesday that, here in Michigan, all schools would be shut down, businesses closed, events canceled, and people confined to their houses until further notice, I would not have believed you.  This type of rapidly spreading, deadly virus is something I'd expect to read about in apocalyptic literature, not the news. And yet, this is the situation in which we find ourselves.  As a counselor and, more importantly, a human being, I am asking myself the best way to process through these events and my own thoughts and feelings. 


I've seen several ideas and recommendations for "how to socially distance" and the best way to structure your day if you're stuck at home.  Many in the medical profession have offered advice as to what supplies we should be stocking up on and how to care for those who are sick.  These types of information are va ...

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Posted in:

  • COVID-19

Tags:

  • Emotions
  • anxiety
  • anxious
  • compassion
  • faith
  • feelings
  • social distancing

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