How to be Brave

How to stand tall in your bravery?

From Finding Her Episode 53 

When you think of the term brave, you need to recall the true meaning behind it. 

To be brave is to face challenges regardless of difficulty, fear, or danger that a situation can present itself. 

Let's pause for a moment of reflection. 

When thinking about your current life, where are you carrying the most stress in your life?

How many heavy and overpacked bags are you lugging around?

We have a natural tendency to forget about the external factors that can burden or overwhelm our daily life. These external stressors are out of our control for the most part. 

"When we overpack our bags, we are carrying massive amounts of stress that can impact our overall mental and physical health."

Not only are your bags too heavy, but you lack implementing coping skills when stressful moments arise and barge into your daily life.

Just as Cosmo Kramer casually walked in and out of Jerry's apartment because the door was always left unlocked.

Yes, I used Kramer as a symbol for your external stressors. I also used the analogy of locking the door to represent your bravery of applying healthy coping skills for the unexpected. Most importantly, your goal is to learn more about yourself, apply changes to your routine, allowing opportunities for trial and error, and celebrating the strength it took to take your first steps in preventative mental health care.

That analogy leads me to this blog's question of the day.

"Can you remain firm, strong, and brave by locking your door to keep Kramer in the hallway?"

Yes, you can.

Things to keep in mind when you are reading this:

1. Everyone's strengths are not uniform. What I am alluding to is your deficits and issues may or may not be equal to someone else. Even people you know may continue to struggle to share their mental health and wellness issues due to fear of stigma. 

2. It can be hard to become aware of your deficits. Only apply healthy coping skills three areas in your life that have become too heavy to carry.

3. Goal: Keep Kramer in hallway by increasing skills in self-awareness, self-management, and preventative mental health.

First Step: Activate your awareness. What areas are you experiencing high levels of stress? Take one step at a time.

Steps to stand tall in your bravery:

Identify: 

What areas in your life are you currently experiencing high levels of stress? 

Such as the following:

Work

Home

Relationships

Communication

Health

Mental Health

Finances

Family

Next, choose your top three.

Make a list, communicate with close friend, discuss with your therapist.

Remember, this is not a race. 

It might be easier to identify, for some versus others.

Take notes, brainstorm with a close friend, and or discuss with your therapist.

Awareness is a foundational piece, as it will unlock your ability to see yourself and will help guide you into your wellness plan.

Example: My three bags 

Work/Life Balance

Communication

Mental Health

The lone universal bag:

The COVID-19 is an invisible heavy bag that is being carried by the world.

I want you all to keep in mind that you are all carrying around an invisible heavy bag. A universal bag. A bag that everyone in the world is currently in possession of. 

I call this the COVID-19 bag.

It is filled to the top with of the following but not limited to:

Uncertainty

Increased stress

The trajectory of a national pandemic

Job loss

Distance Learning

Working from home

Declining Mental Health

Isolation

The COVID-19 bag adds to our current levels of stress as we patiently wait for a reprieve from the virus. Will it ever come?

Final step: How to manage your top three bags?

What the hell do I do now, Buzz?

You need to add skills, tips, strategies into each of your bags. 

Implementation of a plan, including skills, awareness, tips, trial, and errors, will lower your stress by lessening your load.

Here are my bags:

Work/Life Balance:

Boundaries  

Create a work schedule including start and stop times. 

Sign on my office door with work times.

Moving my podcasting recording day from Wed to Sat.

Self Management

Knowing when to take a break

Following a daily routine

Positive self talk

Affirmations

Communication:

Self Management

Positive self talk

Reach out to see people

Affirmations

Emotional regulation

Don't talk to hubs if mad

Mental Health and Wellness:

Self Management

Creative process

Journal

Exercise/ movement

Eat healthily

Medications

Vitamins

CBT Therapy

Self Advocacy

Positive self talk

Speaking up about how you feel

Taking breaks

You can adjust at any time. Awareness is a skill that allows you to decide what works for you and what doesn't. Researching, reading blogs, listening to podcasts, learning more about self-improvement skills, will bring new ideas for you to try.

I would give your ideas and strategies no less than six continuous weeks before you make changes. 

If you have any questions about this mini-lesson, please email me at Julia@juliabusby.com.

Please take a listen to my show here:

On this week's episode of Finding Her, Julia continues on her journey of sharing tips, skills. strategies to help you continue to become more brave. This week the topic is how to stand tall in your bravery. She shared that external factors and things that are really out of our control, can impact your life creating a mass amount of unhealthy stress.

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Keep Shining & be kind to your mind.