Bloggin' along ...
Carving sanity on a chaotic landscape
Numbers, numbers, numbers …unsolicited, they keep coming at us from every direction: television, radio, financial advisors, employers, scientists, politicians ….Like it or not, we have all endured a year of measures. Beneath all these numbers lies a monster that evades access to precise measurement; that monster is mental health.
Our mental health is the invisible gauge by which we pluck out our daily options and the gauge to how we perceive ourselves, how we treat others, how we make selections and decisions, how we measure our results and go about our everyday. When we exist in a secure and stable frame of mind and reference, we are capable of making sound choices, making positive things happen. Contrarily, when we are feeling defeated, disadvantaged or denied, disconnected or down, we do not exude the same level of confidence and decision-making capacities; we may resort to poor decisions, thus creating further unhealth.
There are so many aspects that affect one’s mental health, for every one it may be different and thus immeasurable at the surface or at a societal level. Hence, the danger exists for the collective society and our communities …and those who love us. With governments forcing continued (and arguably unreasonable) closures of the services and businesses we all need to maintain a standard of ‘normal’ in our lives, these agencies are simultaneously feeding our angst and growing frustrations that fertilize declining mental health. We all know it’s imperative to help ourselves before we help others; we must make selfish choices (ie: self-care) to ensure we are of sound mind and health to support our families and continue to make positive strides in all aspects of life. Even access to our practitioners as we once had seems complicated now. But what of those who are overwhelmed with stress, impossible burdens and demands, sickness and messy family dynamics? How are we expected to make a difference when we have handcuffs and the whereabouts of the key to the handcuffs unknown. Despite these burdens, we must continue to operate our lives within this chaos?
I have alluded in previous blogs to shifting the power of our thoughts to where one feels in control, rather than obsess about the obvious and unchangeable. I have alluded to finding meaning in areas which would not otherwise be an option, if not for the chaos. For me, I embraced my passion for art, worked extra hard on home-based fitness, researched and tapped into some new forms of nutrition and supplements, performed a whole lot of cleaning and purging, completed unfinished projects, started new ones ….While these actions do feel good and are measurable, they do not remove the realities of our finances and the fact many of our personal earnings have slowed to a trickle, and they do not mask the reality that we cannot collect the hugs we really crave from our friends and families outside our cohort bubble, or play our favourite sport each week, to elevate our endorphins and raise our serotonin levels.
Frankly, this gig is getting stale and inevitably taking its toll on all of us. Perhaps there may be a small nugget of comfort in this collective phenomenon of societal despair …across the globe, with all its variants ...oh, good grief!
Recently, I came across a story that helped me shift my own emotional status. I hope I may bring value to you too. During times of immense challenge, it can be helpful to examine how individuals who operate at a high level of stress (people who choose this particular lifestyle) carve balance and keep level. Not that we may become immune to our stresses, because stress is unhealthy and often propagate disease, but rather to learn some practical ways we may be naturally equipped to transition our stresses in meaningful and beneficial ways.
Max Parrot, Canadian Olympic snowboard champion, a very recent survivor of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, started his chemotherapy during Covid in 2019. In an interview,
he states “I am grateful for my cancer battle …” The 26-year-old took his cancer diagnosis and used it to his advantage. About his forced journey into disease, he says the following:
“I think one of the reasons why (I was so motivated to beat cancer) is because I was like a lion in a cage for the whole time. I was at the hospital and I just wanted to snowboard so bad and be back out there. So, when I fought against it (cancer) and won, they opened the cage and I just went straight to training and rode so much and was just really happy to be back on snow. So, I think that's the reason why I had such a good year last season.”
Alright, so no one reading this is likely an athlete being paid to train for the next Olympics to defend his Silver, but the point is that no matter how defeated and restricted we all may feel, we can penetrate some realms of our barriers to create a more positive foundation, even when matters may seem hopeless or out of our locus of control. In Max’s case, he changed the way he looked at cancer and negated the negative connotation most people have towards cancer.
“Choosing to have the right attitude in moments when you’re not supposed to have it,” …is the difference to creating positive results. This is what Max’s mental performance psychologist coach and international speaker, Jean François Ménard
suggests to Max and all his clients.
In his many motivational speeches as an athlete himself and sports psychologist, he asserts that moving through adversity is about shifting your way of thinking: “Attitude is everything,”
he says to his audience, some of which are elite athletes and well-known performers like Cirque du Soleil. If one can shift her perception about the topic on the table (such as work, money, relationships, goals, etc.), then change is ripe to occur.
“People with the right attitude are not only surviving in Covid times, they are thriving. Let’s face it; having an agile mindset and being open-minded to uncertainties have become necessary mental skills during this pandemic. The greatest minds know that if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change.”
Those who have garnered a stronger confidence, tapped into their higher selves, learned skills to rise above adversity are inarguably those who can assist us now by example with some of our own mountainous challenges. None of the notions JF Ménard projects are rocket science, but they are applicable to all of us who struggle with needing change and craving balance and normal. We are all capable of shifting our mental thoughts onto something different, something more positive in order to claim new results. It’s safe to say that we all know one thing: where the mind goes, energy follows. I took this application and applied it to one of my own personal challenges. When the pandemic robbed me of my spin classes and soccer team, with it went my balance and what replaced it was anger, frustration, tighter clothing and increased caloric intake. Intelligent enough to recognize these negative shifts, I knew I needed to find a new cardio flavour, because the cellulite creams were not working. Months ago, I took up high intensity interval training (HIIT) as research pegged me as someone who could benefit effectively and easily recover my missing balance. However, after only several HIIT workouts, I quickly decided I would rather get punched than endure the aftermath of the incredibly sore muscles HIIT gave me, most of which I neither knew I had nor really cared that I had them. The discomfort was too much, so I reverted to more walking instead, but with minimal results in the area of how my clothes fit me the imbalances persisted.
Realizing that change starts with self and if myself was not willing to commit to improving my own mental state and status, how could I expect all the other aspects of my life that needed addressing to change positively? I reexamined the values of HIIT and committed to making myself accountable for my own mental and physical health. What happened was amazing! In a recent blog
I shared my new love affair with the fitness app DownDog and how after the free trial expired, I purchased a subscription. Well, within this application also lives other fitness options, such as a HIIT
one. With yoga being my daily source of zen, toning, core strength and simulated daily pill for destressing, I shifted my approach to HIIT by using yoga as my reward for every HIIT workout I completed. Where I normally do one hour of yoga every day, I transitioned my workout into 20 minutes of HIIT, supplemented by 30 minutes of yoga to unwind, release any of those stiff and unfamiliar muscles and round out my fitness in this newish frontier called ‘still and variant pandemic.’
My newfound self-care is a wonderful success, as I have shed inches, tightened my entire bod, tossed the cellulite cream, revisited my favourite clothes and reflect a confidence to those I am lucky enough to have within my small cohort group. My own attitude adjustment is proof that what Jean François Ménard recommends does create measurable results, and the ripple effects it conveys is the silver lining …or my own silver medal.
Yours in zenity,
Liane
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Bye-bye, 2020! Don't let the door hit you on your way out! That is one of the most pointed and defiant comments one can make to another, but for the majority of us ....well, ALL of us, 2020, will be embedded in our minds as a year of challenge, horror, disappointment, shrivel, lack of hope and faith. I digress. During negative times, I find it difficult to come up with positive sharings that don't sound forced or cliche, but as the year is winding down and the world is grasping a glimmer of hope for 2021, I feel the desire to reach outward to my readers and celebrate the little things we have accomplished. I have shared some things with you over this year about how I established balance and ways to rise above the challenges that faced me personally. I hope that you also have weathered these storms and, like me, dream of the next vacation on the beach or an escape to your favourite secret hideaway -- the one the government denied you for a year now. A hearty thank you to all my clients, old and new, for your support, business and commitment to me. As a freelancer, I rely on you to refer my great skills to others. So many of you have and I feel blessed. This week I launched my first newsletter after a flood of interest. If you wish to become part of this list and keep up with what's happening in my little orchard of juicy fruits and sharings, please hit the sign-up button at the bottom of my web page. I wish each and every one of you a joyous and creative Christmas whereby you find ways to make your celebrations happy, unique and a reason to start new memories and traditions. Love and hope, Liane
This article was created by StackCommerce in partnership with Content Works, Postmedia’s commercial content division. While Postmedia may collect a commission on sales through the links on this page, we are not being paid by the brands mentioned. Canada’s unemployment rate increased by 5.2 per cent, bringing April’s rate to 13 per cent. The dire news is due to COVID-19 and other factors, leaving the economy with nearly 2 million fewer jobs. This means that competition is going to be fierce for those of us looking for jobs in an already crowded job market. As such, you’ll want every edge you can get to stand out to recruiters and employers, and, to this end, few things are as effective as having the right certification. Not sure which certifications you should go after? Here are five that can give you a huge leg up, and we’ve even included some handy training resources to get you started. Read on for details: 1. CERTIFICATION: MICROSOFT OFFICE SPECIALIST (MOS) CERTIFICATION We all know Microsoft Office Suite (MOS) as the foundation to just about any job. And while you may think you know Office, Access, Excel, or PowerPoint—you’ve probably only been scratching the surface. Having a Microsoft Office Specialist Certification shows employers you have an advanced understanding of these tools and more, giving you a major leg up over folks who just put “proficient” on their resume. If you want to go after this certification, consider starting with The Ulitmate Microsoft Office Certificate Mastery Bundle: Recent Editions. This 12-course training offers a deep dive into the Microsoft Office suite, getting you up to speed with the advanced elements of Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Access. 2. CERTIFICATION: CERTIFIED ASSOCIATE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT (CAPM)® A Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) is a globally-recognized accreditation and the gold standard in project management. Having a project management certification gives you instant credibility when it comes to knowing how to effectively manage teams. This certification will also come in handy as the demand for management skills is on the rise. You can prepare to add this in-demand certification and more to your resume with The Project Management Certifications Tests and Courses Bundle for $24.99. By the end of the third course, you’ll have all the prep you need to ace the exams for the following three certifications: Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), and PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP). 3. CERTIFICATION: ADOBE CERTIFIED EXPERT – ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CC Photoshop is a graphics editor developed and published by Adobe. It’s the industry standard for not only graphics editing, but in digital art as a whole. If your career involves digital publishing or content creation, Adobe Photoshop CC is the perfect skill to get certified in. Want to work towards getting certified? You should start by understanding the basics of this software first. The 2020 Adobe Graphic Design Certification School with get you up to speed with essentials for Photoshop, as well as Illustrator and InDesign for only $49. 4. CERTIFICATION: SALESFORCE ADMINISTRATOR CERTIFICATION Salesforce is the ultimate software for customer management. It provides customer relationship management (CRM) services including marketing automation, analytics and application development. Currently, it’s the top CRM in the world with over 150,000 customers in various industries. The Salesforce Certification Essentials Bundle is a 46-hour course bundle designed to prepare you for three essential Salesforce certifications, including the Salesforce Administrator Certification, all for just $39.99. 5. CERTIFICATION: FACEBOOK BLUEPRINT CERTIFICATION Facebook shouldn’t need much of an introduction as its one of the largest social media platforms in the world with over two billion users. Aside from allowing users to share baby pictures and news articles, the platform has also found success in selling ad space. Its pre-COVID revenue was $17 billion, up 18 per cent year-over-year. Before you go after any certifications, it’s worth understanding the marketing nuances of the platform. You can learn the ins and outs of marketing products with The Ultimate Facebook Marketing Certification Bundle for $29. Source: https://business.financialpost.com/personal-finance/taxes/five-career-development-certifications-worth-adding-to-your-resume-in-2020
