Parenting and Self-Care

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You board the flight, stow your carry-on luggage, and settle into your seat. Maybe it’s because you’re queueing up a few podcast episodes for the trip, taking care of a few last-minute emails that can’t wait, or distracted by your 3-year-old who is already making a valiant attempt to lick every surface within reach, but you’re only faintly aware of that worn-out phrase drifting over the cabin intercom: “In the event of a sudden drop in air pressure...secure your own oxygen mask first before assisting others.” If the announcement registers at all, it may even provoke a hint of annoyance!

To be fair, the oxygen mask phrase and the idea behind it is so commonplace that most of us have probably often heard it used as an analogy for responsible caregiving. “You can’t care for others if you don’t care for yourself.” On its face, it’s a pretty simple concept. Both on airplanes and in life, we assume we’ll have the presence of mind to secure our own ...

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Posted in:

  • Parenting

Tags:

  • coping
  • relationships
  • self-care
  • stress

The Anxiety Equation

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Greetings, Second Story community!  

The last time I wrote, we were at the very beginning of what has become a strange and difficult season.  I know I speak for all of us here when I say it has been an honor to walk with many of you through these challenging weeks and months.  And even through all of the darkness and struggle, you have displayed such resiliency, which gives my heart hope!

In these unpredictable times, I wanted to share with you a tool I’ve been using to better understand and manage my own anxiety, one that I often offer to clients as well.  In the book Emotional Equations, Chip Conley offers an equation, or “recipe” for anxiety that looks like this: 

Anxiety = Uncertainty x Powerlessness.
In a few more words, anxiety is the combined effect of uncertainty (not knowing) and powerlessness (not having control). COVID-19 has been a perfect ...

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Posted in:

  • Anxiety

Tags:

  • Control
  • power
  • time
  • uncertainty

Exhaustion

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Five and a half months of living with COVID-19 has been exhausting. I’m feeling it and I’m sure that you are as well! We’ve quarantined, we’ve adjusted to wearing masks and we’ve all navigated the weekly, daily and hourly changes that this crisis has forced upon us. Each major transition point in the calendar brings new opportunities for exhaustion and the upcoming school year is one of them. Are my kids online, in the classroom or hybrid? How long will that last? Are they safe? How will this impact their learning? Am I going back to campus? Is it time for a gap year? Will I finish the semester or will everything change. Again, it’s exhausting. 

 

I know I’m feeling it. I know my client’s are feeling. And the hardest part in all of this is that we don’t know when it is going to end. So what do we do? Here are a few thoughts:

 

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Posted in:

  • Exhaustion

Tags:

  • Community
  • Connection
  • Deep Breathing
  • Emotions
  • feelings
  • reflection
  • social distancing

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