It’s Just a Moment in Time

Mental GPS with Dr. Jana EP 1

Stuck in a heavy cycle of overthinking and blame? Dr. Jana is here to remind you that your current struggle is just a moment in time, not a permanent reality. Discover why venting on social media might actually be holding you back , and how simple shifts like healthy physical distractions, laughter, and action oriented journaling can help you successfully navigate life's toughest seasons.

Key Topics Covered

• Adversity is Temporary: Most tough situations are short-lived, serving as a temporary moment in time that you must actively navigate through rather than a permanent state. 
• The Danger of Blame: Blaming outside forces strips away your personal agency and leaves you disempowered while waiting for someone else to fix your problems. 
• Avoiding Isolation and Social Media Venting: Resisting the urge to isolate or broadcast your issues to the masses online protects you from negative feedback and preserves your mental well-being. 
• Action-Oriented Journaling: Proactive "brain dumps" should always conclude with an empowering personal plan rather than leaving the focus strictly on how difficult the situation is. 
• Breaking the Rumination Cycle: Intentionally distracting your brain with lighthearted activities or humor releases positive neurotransmitters and gives your mind a necessary rest from stress.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good day. This is Dr. Jana. Thank you for joining me today. Today we're going to talk about navigating adversity. That seems to be a common thing that people struggle with, and people do it in different ways, but sometimes they do things that make their problem worse. So we're going to talk a little bit about what you can do to make your life a little bit better and deal with adversity. The first thing to realize when you are in a tough situation is that it's just a moment in time. And when I say just, I'm not saying anything to minimize it. What I'm saying is just a moment in time, meaning it's not going to last forever. It is something that is going to play out and then you're going to be able to move on. Now there's some things that may be forever, but those are pretty rare. Those might be physiological conditions, that kind of thing. But in general, most adversity is a moment in time, and it's something you just have to figure out how you're going to navigate through it. And so what a lot of people do is they want to blame. And so when we blame others, when we go, well, this is all your fault, or this is all you're doing. And it may be, that may be the truth, but the problem is we end up feeling pretty disempowered when we say things like that because it takes all our personal power away. If we're blaming, then where's your personal power, right? Because then then you're waiting for that other person to fix it. Well, what if they don't? So I tell people, okay, what is what are some things that you can do that are going to make your life better right now? You may not be able to fix the whole situation. There's parts of the situation you may have no control over. But what are some things that you can do that are going to either make you feel better, make you navigate, navigate it better to be able to survive this situation? So the first one is is there anybody in your support system that you can contact that can help you through this, that can give you some feedback, then can give you some good advice or could just listen. Start to reach out to those people. A tendency with a lot of people, when they hit adversity, they isolate. And that's a problem because you need all the support that you can get as you're going through this. So don't isolate. The second thing is people will go on social media. And I get everybody loves social media. But the problem is when you put your problems out there on social media, you kind of never know what kind of feedback you're gonna get. And then people attack and then you feel worse. And so I tell people, don't, you don't need to share your stuff on social media that way because you're not necessarily going to get the support you're seeking. Go back to the old-fashioned way of calling a friend, sending a text to a friend and saying, Hey, could you have coffee with me? I'm in a tough situation. Can you can you just listen for a little bit and help me through this? Do it that way. Don't reach out to the masses because you really don't know what you're gonna get. Is there anything you can do day to day that is gonna make you feel better? You know, for instance, maybe you haven't taken a walk in a long time. Maybe you need to take a walk, maybe you need to get back to the gym, maybe you need to go play golf, I don't know, tennis, whatever, whatever kind of physical things that you can do that are going to get your system moving forward. What does your diet look like? You know, are you just depressed? So you're eating a diet that is based on Taco Bell, McDonald's, and pizza, you know. Right now you need to feed your body and your brain. And if you're not feeding it actual nutrients, then your system is not going to be working at optimum. And I understand that when people get depressed, that's what they want to do. You know, people crave carbs, you know, that's a kind of a known physiological thing, is that people do crave carbs when they get depressed? The problem is the clock, you know, high carb diet makes people typically feel really sluggish. And it makes you so you don't think as clearly as well. So really thinking about is there people in your life that you can reach out to? Is there things you can do for your overall health that are going to make you feel better, that is gonna make it a little bit easier to navigate through this situation? Are you doing a brain dump on a regular basis? And and people do brain dumps in different ways, but you know, one is catching up with a friend talking through the situation. Sometimes people journal about it. I tell people when you journal and you do kind of a brain dump about a situation that's really hard, at the end of the journaling, make a plan of how you and your part of this can make it better. Don't just leave the journal at the end where everything sucks. Okay, because that that tends to make people feel even more disempowered right now. And you really want to empower yourself. So, yes, this situation sucks, but tomorrow I'm gonna go have lunch with Bill or Carla or somebody, and that's gonna be fun, and I'm gonna enjoy that. So don't just stop at it all sucks, okay? Give your brain breaks. People tend to ruminate when things are hard. And I get that, and it's a very normal human thing to do, but it usually doesn't help because what it does is it keeps your system very, very highly adrenalized. Then you're not sleeping very well, then you're agitated, then you're angry, now you're agitated with people that you love, and now you're pushing people away because you're irritable all the time. Your brain really has to have breaks. It's like you don't run a marathon every day all the time, if unless you're, you know, an Olympic athlete, right? Your bro, your body has to rest, your brain has to rest. And so, what can you do to distract your mind with something that is fun, that is not going to add more stress, but is healthy and can give your brain that relaxation. Distraction is a wonderful thing, not long term, you have to face the stuff, you have to deal with it. I get that. But you have to be able to distract your brain. I like humor. Comedy is a great way to distract the brain, in part because if you're listening to something and you're laughing, you're releasing different neurotransmitters than if you're watching something that is going to make you angry and riled up. So if you can find something funny, something lighthearted to watch on TV, maybe there are certain hobbies that you have that are very distracting and fun, but distract your brain. And again, who is your support system? Who is it that you have that you don't necessarily have to talk to them about the problem? Just go to lunch and talk about something completely random. Talk about your hobbies, talk about, I don't know, your favorite football team, whatever. But maybe you find a way to shift your brain. Again, remind yourself on a daily basis. This is a moment in time. It will pass, you will get this behind you, you just have to continue moving forward. But everything that you can do to empower yourself, do that because it makes it much easier to navigate adversity. Thank you so much for joining. If you enjoyed this, please make sure that you follow us on Facebook. No, sorry, take that out. Make sure you follow us on YouTube and thank you for joining us. Oh, take that all out. Put whatever you want in, Frankie. Do we do we have one already?

unknown 8:48

Oh no, not yet.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Oh, okay. Let's do one right now. What do I say? Follow us on Facebook or you could say make sure to subscribe and follow us on social media. Ah, okay. So thank you for joining us today. Make sure you subscribe and follow us on social media. We love working with you. Have a wonderful day. Because remember, you have the right to be happy and you have the right to have a good life.