A few weeks ago, I was talking to my therapist about the wonderful week I had just had. I felt motivated, fulfilled, and generally happy all week. The week prior had been the complete opposite. I was anxious, frustrated, tired, and overall, not doing well mentally. As I explained this, she observed that I was using very black and white language. Last week was bad but this week was good. “A week is a very long time to stay in either of those two extreme places,” she said,
“you are forgetting that each day, each moment is an opportunity to reset and revitalize your mental energy.”
When she reminded me of this, I realized how much I had been following the momentum of my bad and good days. I had been allowing my Mondays to dictate how the rest of my week would go and had been waiting until Sunday for some magical reset to occur. She reminded me that I always have the power to change and replenish my energy. All or nothing thinking is when we paint things as wholly good or bad, wrong or right, black or white. But life is much more complex and colorful than that.
In light of this rediscovery, she gave me an assignment: make a list of 10-20 things to do on any day to take care of myself and reset my energy. I was then meant to select one item every day and notice how it impacted my mental state throughout the week. My list consisted of things such as watercolor painting, taking a shower, calling my mom, going for a walk, dancing to a favorite song, writing a gratitude list, having a picnic, 5-15 minute meditation, and more. The point of the list is that it is personalized to you. The things on my list are not universal activities to make people feel better, they are things that I know, when done with intention, can change my state of mind. As I incorporated these small things into each day, I felt much more connected to myself and felt encouraged to face each day hopefully.
When I spoke with my therapist again at the end of the next week, I was happy to report that the week had been quite a rollercoaster. This idea that we always have the power to reset does not mean we have to feel good all the time. It is still extremely important to feel the fullness of our emotional spectrum, and listen to our bodies and minds when they need some rest. Remembering my power to stay in control of my energy and mind allowed me to feel the hard things, but not wallow in them and allow them to consume me for seven whole precious days. Many times, when I followed the momentum of rough days for the rest of the week, I would find myself feeling down inexplicably. I may have moved through the initial challenging emotion, but still felt that I needed to stay in that low place until I had time and internal permission to reset.
We do not have full control over our experiences or the ways that our minds will respond to them, but we do have the power to come back to the things that are important to us at our core and allow those things to energize and revitalize us on a deep level. I challenge you to make a list of your own, a list personal to you that can center, ground, and reset your energy so that you can face each new day with clarity and openness. Changing my mental patterns is a constant process, but in any capacity of a mental health journey, it is vital to remember that we are powerful, capable, and worthy of change and healing.
