when we need a reset

We have been reminded over and over again - everywhere we look - that this year has been one for the books.

This week is another reminder that the year 2020 is nothing like the flash forwards the early 2000s portrayed.

I was watching How I Met Your Mother over the weekend - one of the episodes flashes forward to the 2021. Ted is in an airport. No one is masked. There is a sense of hope that everything has worked out. The reality that we are sitting here in as 2021 is approaching quickly is nothing like that image portrayed in the sitcom.

As we are preparing for a potentially long wait for election results and long winter, I wanted to offer a few practical things you could do for your mental health:

1) What ever social media site you are reading this on - get off of it for a few days or at least a few hours.

2) Call a friend you haven’t talked to in a minute and laugh about an old memory.

3) Take a nap - like most devices when we turn ourselves off for a minute and reset we tend to function better.

4) Reach out to a counselor and start talking and working on the things you have been avoiding.

5) Make a plan for how you are going to grieve and know that grieving is not just for losing a person. We can grieve dreams, seasons that don’t go the way we hoped, elected officials, and the state of a society.

This list by no means covers all the ways to take care of you - but know that it is not selfish to take a little time and prioritize your mental health. What ever that may look like.