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Rise Above.
Lately, I’ve been having a hard time keeping my mouth shut. Having made sacrifices for people who don’t acknowledge or appreciate how I’m hurting myself for their benefit has been tolling. So badly, I want to just yell at them and say, “You did this! You didn’t do that! You are this way! It is your problem!” I’ve had to muster up a lot of strength to not blame and shame. In the age of social media, moving on from people who have hurt us can be difficult. With each post that pops up on our feed, it is a painful reminder of what could have, should have, was or isn’t. Being the stubborn person that I am,…
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Any Good.
Circumstances have arisen over the past several months that have caused me to re-evaluate certain relationships. As a result, I’ve created new boundaries with people who I didn’t feel recognized my full worth. These decisions did not come lightly, and I’m still having a hard time coping with the changes. In only one of these circumstances was there a pretty clear cut of ties. The others have been pretty much just my decision with no discussion about the state of the relationship. In talking these changes out with a friend, she asked, “Why don’t you talk to them about it?” And I responded, “It won’t do me any good.” Then she asked, “Why do you think it won’t…
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Burn-Out.
Did you know that burn-out is classified as an “occupational phenomenon” in the International Classification of Diseases by the World Health Organization (WHO)? It’s in a section describing factors that influence a person’s health without being an illness or injury. Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life. It’s a syndrome (associated symptoms of opinions, emotions, and behavior) essentially brought to fruition from the unsuccessful management of chronic workplace stress. It is characterized by three dimensions: Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; Increased mental distance from one’s job or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; Reduced professional…
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Vibe.
Humans are an interesting species, aren’t they? Trying to wrap my head around the social behaviors occurring during this pandemic has my mind running overtime. I mean, I’m not surprised with some of the things that are happening. Humans are social animals who conform in response to perceived pressure from others. That’s basic psychology. But here’s a fun video to demonstrate just because: What has surprised me most about this situation is the positivity. So many people are truly trying to make the best of this situation and are trying to spread joy throughout their communities. I’ve seen videos of teachers parading through neighborhoods in a caravan to see their students. I’ve seen small pop-up “give…
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Conflict Resolution.
There is a man that I respect who is very intelligent but typically has bad delivery. He has these great ideas and points to make, but his thoughts are scattered when he speaks and sometimes just listening to him and/or conversations with him are hard to follow. He recognizes this about himself and even pokes fun at himself for it. I went to a meeting with him, where he vocalized his opinion and literally got laughed at. In a room full of professional adults, this lady legit lol’d during his commentary. After the meeting, he said to me, “I said what needed to be said. I don’t really care if…