Tag: mindfulness

Handling Heat and Showing Compassion (7-9-25)

Last week, our air conditioning went out and we had to replace the entire unit.  This bit of bad luck will be the inspiration for this series, so I’m hoping it’s fire 😉  Our first entry will be about handling heat, what that does and doesn’t mean, and showing compassion.  

Let’s set the scene.  The air conditioning is out.  It is hot and humid outside.  The house feels gross.  The heat was particularly tough on my wife and kids.  At night, I would go upstairs and sleep, even though it was hotter up there.  Meanwhile, they had created a fort of cool with portable mattresses and all of the fans they could muster. 

The factual statement is that I was able to sleep upstairs when they couldn’t.  It would be easy to think this somehow makes me tougher or stronger than them.  This might be true, but there could be other explanations.  Maybe, our bodies process the experience of being overheated differently.  Maybe, our bodies get overheated at different rates.  Maybe, since I’m usually hot to begin with, I just have more experience being hot and uncomfortable so it’s not too different for me.  Maybe, they are dealing with other challenges I’m not dealing with, so I can put more energy toward temperature regulation.  I could sleep upstairs, but that doesn’t necessarily make me tougher, stronger, or better.

Let’s connect some dots.  Have you ever looked at someone else and thought, “They must stronger or better than me, because they handle that well?”  Or have you ever thought, “Why am I so much worse and weaker than other people?”  I know I have.  I’ve thought about these things as it relates to physical pain, stress, and more.

When I was younger, I’d look at people and think, “Whoa! That person must be tough,” or “That person just needs to put in the effort and suck it up!” as if it were that simple and straight forward.  As I get older, and hopefully a bit wiser, I realize there is more to it than that.  Maybe that person has put in the effort and is that strong.  Maybe that person appears strong because they have cut off all of their emotions, which isn’t exactly healthy.  Maybe that person who is struggling on a task has a whole lot of other things in life kicking the crap out of them right now.  Maybe I’m experiencing a person when they aren’t at their best, while they are so strong and amazing in other aspects of life.  The bottom line of all of this is I’ve learned to show more understanding and a heck of a lot more compassion.

The challenge: Will you show more understanding and compassion to others?  Will you show more understanding and compassion to YOURSELF?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Recharging and Mental Health (10-2-24)

Last week I finished the series on lessons I’ve learned from therapy.  This week I want to touch on one more mental health lesson, before moving to new topics.  Today, I want to touch on the importance of recharging for our mental health.

Let me start by saying that everyone is okay.  Here’s the story.  On Friday, I drove a few hours away for an obstacle course race on Saturday.  On Saturday morning around 1am, I received a text that a family member was in the hospital.  I packed up and drove the 3.5 hours home to see what was going on.  It was a long day of waiting and little sleep.  Eventually, I felt good about everything and went home.

When I got home I sent a couple of emails to folks letting them know what was going on and that I wouldn’t be at work on Monday.  Then, the guilt started to set in.  On Saturday night and Sunday morning this little voice started whispering, “You’re really behind at work.  You’re going to be even more behind, because you aren’t working on Monday.  You should start doing work right now.  You’re not doing anything else right now.  You’re just staying at the house.  You’re just sitting there.  You could be doing work to catch up.”  Have you ever had something like this happen to you?  Have you ever heard guilt whisper to you like this?

For a moment, I almost gave into that voice.  Then, I paused for a second and I assessed how I was feeling.  I was sleep deprived, physically tired, and emotionally exhausted.  Working is not what I needed.  I wasn’t sitting around doing “nothing”.  I was recharging.  I was catching my breath.  I was taking care of myself.  I was being present with my family.  After embracing these things, I let go of the urge to work.

What does this have to do with anything?  I don’t know about you, but it’s easy to get lost in the hustle and grind.  It’s easy to subscribe to this idea that we should be doing something every moment of every day to better ourselves and deliver for the business.  This is the same mentality that leads to burnout.  We don’t always need to be running ourselves into the ground.  We need to challenge that voice of guilt.  We need to embrace that sometimes we need to do “nothing”.  Sometimes, we need to slow down, reconnect, and recharge for our own sake and for the sake of others.

The challenge- Will you allows yourself to recharge when you need to?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry