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Of the many things we
can control, our thoughts and perspective are among those.
People worldwide have suffered great loss, their lives and
the lives of friends and family. When I meet with clients
for the first time, one of the questions I ask is the
disposition of their religious belief/faith and
spirituality. Some will announce their belief in God but
may not be associated with a church, some will communicate
that they are spiritual and believe in a higher power and
yet others will express their atheism and disbelief in God.
While I am in no way
here to judge as a human being or a counselor, I ask the
question because it helps me understand their thought
processes while assisting them in developing interventions
that will ultimately give them coping tools for their
particular issue.
Regardless of one’s
feelings and beliefs when it comes to higher powers,
spirituality and God, people still carry with them an innate
purpose in their life. Each of us having a purpose in life
is like having lungs to breath in air. Our lungs are there
for a reason. When an individual defines his or her outlook
on life as atheist, we are still able to work together to
devise a treatment plan to address the unique struggle.
That treatment plan often encompasses hope and the sense of
“never give up.”
That person’s choice
in a belief system is not mine to change, as a counselor my
work lies in building on a core inner being. Clients list
their goals, needs, and wants, figure out what is in their
control and what is not, finding a support system and
understanding if it is theirs to have, it will come to
pass.
It all starts with
recognizing your purpose – what are you drawn to? Arts,
music, helping others, analytical thinking, physical
talent? Then set yourself on a course on how to get there.
It may begin with education, or certifications, practice –
it’s not so much if you can see if you can achieve it, but
if you can feel it, you will do it.
Take a mental health
moment and assess your happiness, listen to your inner self
and refuse to hear the outside noise from others on how much
you can’t achieve it or do it. Success is a beautiful sense
of feeling; on the other hand, regret is too often a pool we
swim through due to the encouragement of self-doubt and the
negative orchestra from those who were never in our corner
to begin.
Yes, 2020 has been a
year of discouragement, but with six months left in this
year that is more than enough time to decide how you want to
see it behind you and look ahead. None of us will ever get
back that time but each day upon waking we are reset with
another 24 hours. As long as you have the time, you have
the choice. You can either complain or you can change.
Bernadette
Graham is a Licensed Professional Mental Health Counselor,
National Certified Counselor and Certified Grief Recovery
Specialist. Provide feedback or reach out at
graham.bernadette@gmail.com For appointment information
please call 419.409.4929 (Telehealth is available for
ongoing and new clients at this time).
www.bjgrahamcounseling.com |
