We all struggle...
Darcee Ruble
I recently read a book called “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein. This is the fictional story of a family who struggles; and how they handle their fears and overcome adversity, as told through the eyes of a very wise family dog. You may be reading this newsletter thinking “why would she be writing about a fictional dog book in this type of publication?” As you know the Carolina Performance newsletter provides interesting factual information about anxiety, stress reduction, athletic performance and general life improvement. I found this book, and this dog, to be very adept at addressing these areas in life that are daily struggles for many of us. I have taken the liberty of quoting a few lines from the book to illustrate this.
One of my favorite quotes; which I believe relates to my practice in mental health is as follows: "Could Denny have possibly appreciated the subjective nature of loneliness, which is something that exists only in the mind, not in the world, and, like a virus, is unable to survive without a willing host?" Upon reading this, I noticed that the word loneliness can be replaced with almost any concern; sadness, fear, rejection, failure, worthlessness, lack of self-esteem or any other struggle created in the mind. These harmful feelings are like viruses to our soul, but only if we allow them to be. These are the very issues that bring people to my office for help. They want to be heard so they are not lonely, feel successful so they don’t feel like failures, and feel powerful so they do not feel fear. We must learn to not be the “host” so these negative feelings will decrease, hopefully to the point where they cease to exist. It is true that we sometimes need a little help in finding our way to a place free from self-persecution, but this place is there is there, inside our minds, waiting to be set free.
Darcee Ruble, LPC, LCAS
Carolina Performance