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Chronicles Of A Therapist
Chronicles Of A Therapist
Adapt Or Die
"Adulting is ghetto. Wouldn't recommend." These words kick off a powerful exploration of human resilience and our capacity to adapt through life's most challenging moments. Sometimes we forget just how remarkable we truly are – capable of adapting to traumas, losses, and heartbreaks that initially seem insurmountable.
Your journey through hardship presents a fundamental choice: will you become a victim of your circumstances, or will you allow painful experiences to transform you into something greater? Think about someone who loses everything in a house fire only to rebuild a better life, or those who channel their suffering into becoming healers and helpers. The path of transformation doesn't deny pain's reality but reframes it as potential catalyst for profound growth.
Finding healthy ways to process pain stands at the center of this transformation journey. While some turn to destructive coping mechanisms like substance abuse or other addictive behaviors, developing positive strategies proves far more healing. Journaling, therapy, mindfulness practices – these provide healthier pathways through difficult emotions. The key lies in honestly identifying what your pain is telling you and responding with appropriate coping skills rather than temporary escapes. Sometimes professional support becomes necessary, especially when facing particularly traumatic events or struggling to develop effective coping mechanisms on your own. Which path will you choose – victim or victor in your pain story? Let this episode guide you toward transformation and remember to subscribe, share your thoughts, and connect with me on Instagram @cnchep_chronicles to continue this important conversation.
Hey guys, welcome to Chronicles of a Therapist. I'm Cassandra Shepherd, I'm the host and this is my space. So you guys know that I've talked about how ghetto being an adult is Like trash, wouldn't I recommend Horrible. So, in the space of thinking about how bad it is, I thought about like, what are some benefits of being able to shift, pivot or adapt when things get hard? And so I found this quote that I actually pulled out from my brain Humans are resilient and just as an injury, our bodies can compensate, so we can navigate emotions differently. And what's that to say is that there are moments in nature in our bodies. If you've ever broken a bone, if you've ever stubbed a toe and broke it, if you've seen people who are missing limbs, I follow this one concert creator who is literally a torso. She literally has her torso and her feet, and she's a real estate agent. She might have a baby. That tells us that, as humans, we can adapt to anything Traumas, losing people, bad relationships, divorces. We can adapt, and I think that in this society we don't remember how great we really are. Yes, is a Dalton ghetto Ghetto? Yes, it's very, very ghetto. Wouldn't recommend, but the journey and the process to get through. It allows us to be a different person. And so the biggest thing, I want to tell you guys that when we are adapting, through all the hardships of adulting, we are transforming, and I think when we remember that, it doesn't seem as painful.
Speaker 1:You ever meet somebody who's like been through a house fire and then ended up getting a better house? I guarantee you going through a house fire, almost losing your life, losing all of your belongings, but then you end up getting a house that you actually really wanted. That's adaptation, being able to transform your life from trauma and hurt. There are so many people who have become therapists or doctors I've met some people go through some harsh things and they do two things they use it to be transformative or they become victims. So I think, at this point in life, I want to tell all of us adults which pill do you want? Do you want to be a victim or do you want your trauma, your hurt, your pain to transform your life so you can be even better? You can be better for your kids, for your generations, for moving forward? So I think that that's the biggest thing. Out of the three things that I want to talk about is which do you want to decide? You want to be a victim or you want to transform that trauma into triumph? That sounds like somebody's sermon sermon. That's how you know I grew up in church.
Speaker 1:Okay, so that's the first thing. The second thing is finding ways to work through your pain. So how do you get through your pain? Do you journal? Do you cry? Do you bottle, do you gamble? Do you drink? Do you get high? Are you promiscuous? What do you do to get through your pain? Like we, as humans, have to realize that even bad things are coping strategies. So you got to figure out what your coping skill is, why people who get high and drink and gamble and all those things that people look at as addictions, their coping skills. How do you get through your?
Speaker 1:Everybody has pain. I've said this before. If I stub my toe and my toe is screaming, is screaming at me, what am I gonna do? Am I gonna? I'm gonna ignore it? Am I gonna get some time at all? Am I gonna get it checked out? Your body and pain, what are we doing? What are your coping skills? What are your strategies? Some positive ones you can use. You can journal. You can have a therapist, because sometimes you need more than just oh, what's my coping skill? Because, hey, I just went through something horrific A fire, losing a loved one, divorce. Sometimes you need to go talk to somebody. That's a coping skill, because sometimes you need a space, nonjudgmental, to get that stuff and run with it. So find some coping skills, go get a therapist.
Speaker 1:We have to be able to identify I'm hurting, that's all pain really is in any capacity, whether it's body pain or emotional pain. I'm hurting when you're hurting. What do you tell a two-year-old when they're hurting? So funny story. I always tell people that, as dramatic as I am I don't know how I am because my dad is crazy I remember being like two or three and up oh my god, I stubbed my toe. Oh my god, frank would say all right, go give me a knife. Now. It sounds really jerkish, but what he was trying to condition me, it's not that serious. Are you bleeding? Is it real pain? And so I will position is it real pain? Not that pain is somatic and not there. But is it as bad as your brain is telling you? It is Probably not, because that is. That's what panic attacks are your brain. What panic attacks are your brain is telling you. Your brain is telling you oh, my god, I'm about to die. Nope, you're not. You're in the elevator, just take some deep breaths. So what? What is your pain telling you?
Speaker 1:You need to identify that pain so you can find the appropriate coping skill, a positive one of that, not just some random. I'm gonna go ahead now. I am not anti certain things, right, certain things within reason. Yeah, now, when I say within reason, I'm not talking about hard drugs, please. No, even if you got prescribed pain pills three years ago and you healed, you probably need to go talk to somebody because you probably have an addiction. Yes, they are prescribed and somehow you finagle it.
Speaker 1:If you're finagling things to get your coping skill, usually we might need some other help. And as somebody who is a therapist, who see a lot of people, oh, I recently was talking to somebody and it was like oh yeah, I could put over Adderall, but you're not. You don't have ADHD. Yeah, you got. You got a problem because you're seeking a high, because you're trying to escape pain.
Speaker 1:The best way to escape pain is identifying what that pain is and getting some coping skills. And if you don't have any, or know where to find one, and you don't have the motivation to seek that knowledge yourself. Go get a therapist, please, and thank you. Go get a therapist. And finally, what are you going to do with your pain? Are you going to sit in it and be a victim, or transform it or get a coping skill? So now we've decided what pill we're going to take. Am I going to be a victim or am I going to sit in it and be a victim, or transform it or get a coping skill? So now we've decided what pill we're going to take Am I going to be a victim or am I going to allow this trauma or pain to transform me? After that, we have to decide what is my pain telling me and what am I going to do? Find a coping skill.
Speaker 1:So I want to encourage you. If you're going through traumas and hurt and pain, these are things you got to do because, being a victim, do you want to just be a victim? All of us know people who are victims, who just swallow in their hurt and never change. But why not transform your hurt into something else? If you guys like this content, like, share and subscribe you can engage with me on Instagram at cnchef underscore chronicles, and don't forget to allow your passion to propel your purpose. I'll catch you guys next time. Bye.