Is it me or has there been an uptick in the daily little stressers? On their own it would be no big deal. But add them all up and it certainly has been taking a toll on my mental health.
What’s bothering you lately? For me it’s some important people having health scares, COVID cases on the rise again, the uncertainty of whether we will again be facing lockdowns, hearing about yet another climate change related disaster. Misunderstandings with friends/family leading to conflict, things at home not working and having to spend 3 hours with customer service only get to get disconnected and having to start over with another agent. If you too are also feeling the weight of it all and gravity is making more of an impact lately, congratulations - you are not alone.
I have been thinking a lot lately about two things in particular that I’ve come across that have helped me. So I thought I’d share.
1) It’s the middle of summer, it’s been 90 plus degrees on a consistent basis and I’ve been irritable. In addition, I’ve been having an issue with flies in my home. They are everywhere and making me even more bothered. I find myself constantly swatting at them but everyone knows that does nothing and they will come right back. There’s that funny image of Mike Pence in one of his debates were a fly landed on his head and I still think to this day, “How did he not notice? Maybe he did know but he just didn’t care?” Which I find even more unbelievable because with my struggles lately, it’s annoying me even more. So this brings me to what I really want to talk about. It’s not yoga or meditation or even reading a good book. All of which I practice and can talk for days about. But nah. The thing that’s giving me comfort right now is a $15 purchase I made on Amazon Prime. It’s an electric fly swatter/bug zapper. When a fly gets too close, I just zap it and BOOM! Falls to the ground. For me, the bug zapper has been a perfect metaphor for what I need in my life at this moment. Anytime negative energy is entering into my space, I’ve been telling myself these last couple of days that I just need to zap it like the bug zapper. And guess what! It’s been working.
Check it out here for some cheap peace of mind: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NSKCRTV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
2) The second thing that’s been my saving grace is Ted Lasso. Definitely my favorite show and well worth the time spent. It will make you laugh and give you ALL THE FEELS. In one of the scenes, a player has been dwelling on a mistake that resulted in a goal for the other team. The player is beating himself on the pitch for allowing it to happen. So the great philosopher, Ted Lasso played by Jason Sudeikis, pulls the player aside for a sideline chat. Ted asks, “Do you know what the happiest animal on Earth is?” The players very confused by the question has no idea. “Goldfish,” Lasso replies.
Again, the player has no clue. “Got a 10 second memory,” retorts Lasso. Then he says one more thing before sending the player back on the pitch. “Be a goldfish.”
Watch that clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KXqWCLHgHg
I’ve been flailing lately and a lot of things have been adding up. But I’m writing this because I’m going to practice being more of a goldfish. Instead of holding on to negative thoughts forever like an elephant, I'm going to practice letting go, moving forward and learning. Between the electric fly swatter metaphor and the goldfish scene, I’m going to get happy! And keep on going forward. Hopefully this helps anyone out there reading this as well.