Soothing the Soul When Life Gets Overwhelming

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Ever find yourself blindsided by frustration, your equilibrium knocked askew by life's unexpected tumbles? I'm Shannon Martin, and this heart-to-heart is a candid revelation of my own skirmish with anxiety—sparked by a lost set of keys and fueled by a stubborn dog in the Georgia heat. This episode of "This Thing Called Wellness" is an intimate journey through the ebbs and flows of mental and physical harmony, where I lay bare the moments that test our resilience and the journaling practice that helps me steer back to center.

Navigating the stormy waters of well-being can sometimes feel like holding together a ship with nothing but hope and pieces of tape. But in sharing stories—from the comfort food that nurtures us to the absence of a mother's reassuring presence—we stitch together a collective quilt of understanding and encouragement. No guests, just you and me, exploring how to reclaim peace amidst chaos, with laughter at life's quirks, tears for its trials, and an unwavering commitment to self-care. Because here, we're reminded that it's perfectly fine to acknowledge when we're not okay, and that the journey to wellness is as much about healing as it is about recognizing the need to heal.

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Episode Transcript

Shannon D Martin (00:00):
Hello, beautiful welcome to today's
conversation, where we're goingto talk about Embrace, positive
Thinking, mind-body Harmony.
Let's talk about it.
I'm your host, Shannon Martin,and welcome to today's episode
of this Thing Called Wellness.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Thank you for joining me on another Wellness.

Shannon D Martin (00:19):
Wednesday, I was still thinking about last
week's episode, about how themind and body are interconnected
and how we can overcomechallenges by eating, drinking,
exercising regularly and evenfeeding our minds positive
thoughts, because life has beenlife and over here y'all and I'm
not sure if it has been for you, but such is life right, I have

(00:43):
been trying to chug along and,you know, continue to heal and
stay on my path.
But for some reason, whenyou're doing well, like eating
better, you're back on a goodschedule, eating at least two
meals a day, snacking a littlehealthier than before, because
I'm not putting bad snacks inthe house like before.

(01:07):
You know, like I may have amuffin or my favorite snack,
popcorn, but nothing out of theordinary, you know.
But recently, this morning, Igot a call from my husband
because he couldn't find hiskeys and he was really angry
about it and he woke me upbefore I get up in the morning.

(01:27):
Right now we're not reallyseeing eye to eye and we're not
in a good place, right, eventhough they say you know it's
part of marriage and you gothrough all this.
But this has really spiked myanxiety and a little bit of my
depression.
So when I recorded the episodelast week and I asked myself why

(01:54):
have I not thought about themind-body connection before?
I mean really thought about it?
You know, I know about positivethinking and boundaries and
being mindful and all the goodthings, but today, when I got
the phone call, somethingsparked in me and I said, hmm,

(02:16):
this one phone call angered meand I was grouchy for a few
hours.
I mean really angry, like Isaid, it was before I got up and
I was already furious because,like, you're waking me up before
I get up, angry about somethingthat has nothing to do with me,

(02:38):
and I thought to myself, why amI allowing this one phone call
get to me like this?
So I got to thinking, okay, letme refocus this energy and let
me pause Because I have a oneo'clock accountability call.
So before that, I let my dogout.

(02:59):
She didn't want to come back in, she didn't want to come back
in the house and I'm like, okay,girl, it's 12:57.
It's hot out here.
This is Georgia.
I need you to come on back in.
So that further angered me and Iwas through the roof, angry,
and I'm like I just need to getcoffee, I need to get my snack,
I need to get downstairs, I needto turn the computer on, and,

(03:27):
and I was just on this hamsterwheel of anger, just furious.
Have you ever had one of themdays where life is just really
out of control?
Today was that day for me.
So I sat down last night as Iwas trying to decide what I
wanted to discuss.
You know which direction Iwanted to go into today and I

(03:56):
said let me continue to discussthis connection, because I found
myself being disconnected againand I found this situation
slowly pulling me back into anot so good space and I've come
too far and I didn't want it topull me back in.
So I sat down last night with myemotions and I began to journal

(04:17):
and I realized that I was in aplace of disbelief, like how did
I get here again?
What am I going to do?
How am I really feeling abouteverything right now?
Am I really okay?
No, I wasn't.

(04:40):
I wasn't okay.
I'm holding the pieces togetherwith little pieces of tape,
right, I'm holding my head upand I'm continuing to move.
But I thought about it and thepeace that's not here when I
have these moments, when mybackbone is a little lax.

(05:05):
You know my pillar of strength.
She's not here anymore.
My mother's not here to sayit's going to be alright, baby,
I'm here for you.
God has you then the grief setin right.
And that made me cry evenharder.
Then I realized that my husbandand I, seeing aren't seeing to

(05:28):
eye that made me hurt mybackbone and my support system,
are not here anymore.
So I just wrote it out, I criedit out and I prayed it out.
And this morning I woke up tothe call, my dog and all the
stuff, and I realized thatsomeone was here with me and I

(05:54):
heard you're going to be alright, I'm here with you.
Always remember you gotyourself into this you can get
yourself out of it.
Hang on, joy comes in themorning.
This is one of my mother'sfavorite verses and I knew it
was her guiding me in being hereas best she could.

(06:16):
So right then I began to saypositive things to myself.
Hey, girl, checking on youtoday, it might not have started
out as a good day, right?
So your dog didn't come back inlike she's supposed to.
She's a chihuahua, she's 98years old, she's stubborn, she

(06:39):
stays cold.
Let her have her time in thesunshine and let her bask out
there.
Open the back door, let herchill on the deck.
She'll be all right.
Right, just let it go right,From here on.
Set boundaries on your phonecalls.
Smile, because remember, that'shalf the battle.

(07:00):
Right, continue to say nicethings to yourself.
All right, I never used to saynice things to myself.
I never pepped myself up orhave been my own cheerleader.
Until now.
I always did that for others,like my children, my husband,
even my mom sometimes, but notfor me, and it just felt good.

(07:25):
So from here on, I'm doing thisfor me and I'm going to hug
myself a little bit more daily.
I know that my mom is here withme, because her words and
phrases came back to me inspurts.
They always seem to come backto me.
When I need them the most andat the perfect time.
Mindful Moment, when you findyourself in a place where you're

(07:52):
piecing yourself back together,because I have been for years
now, and I'm sure you have beentoo you've been piecing yourself
back together again with theinvisible tape so no one can see
it when your world is turnedupside down and you have to put
the pieces back together againand you just ask God to give you

(08:15):
the strength and energy to justkeep going, because you're
exhausted and you just don'tknow if it's in you to put
yourself together anymore.
You're tired, but keep going,no matter how slow or how long
it takes.
Just keep getting up.

(08:36):
Because today turned out to be apretty amazing day.
My accountability call wasamazing.
We laughed, got each other backon track, helped lay out our
next two-week plan so we canmeet again in two weeks.
We talked about meal planningso we can eat better, and we

(08:57):
both wanted to get on a summerschedule so we can exercise and
she can go gardening.
We talked about how my otherfriend, myself and my chihuahua
we all on menopause and justneed a nap and we laughed and we
helped each other in ourrespective areas.
My other friend, girl, voicemessaged me throughout the day

(09:18):
and we talked about hey, it'stime to service our HVAC units
because the summers in Georgiaare no joke and our menopausal
selves need this air, and myhusband called and apologized
for being a butt this morning.
Now that's the ice on the cake,right Now.

(09:38):
If I had let this phone call myLily and our marital situation
interfere with today or everyday, it would not have ended on
such a positive note, right?
So I'm going to heat up myleftovers, make a salad and
continue to watch my Animeseries, because the new series

(10:01):
comes out June 1st and when Iwant to be caught up, I'm
already caught up withBridgerton, so I'm good.
But today I got up.
I kept moving forward.
I made a little bit of lemonadealong the way, laughed a whole
lot, and I'm proud of me fordoing so.

(10:25):
So when you're in that momentand you feel like you just can't
go on, pause, ask the questionjournal if you need to pray.
Remember to smile and keepmoving forward a little bit at a

(10:47):
time.
That's how you create positivechanges in your life.
One day, one challenge at atime.
Love you, girl.
Thank you for joining me.
I hope you found value intoday's conversation where we
talked about embrace, positivethoughts, mind, body harmony.

(11:10):
I am your host, Shannon Martin.
Be sure to join us nextWednesday where we will discuss
something interesting.
Until then, stay healthy andwell.
If you enjoyed today's episode.
Let me know what you think bysending me a text yes, a text
message.

(11:30):
There's a link in the shownotes at the very top that you
can click on.
Let me know what you thinkabout the episode so far, or
just say hello and keep up thegood work.
I'd love to hear from you.

Speaker 1 (11:43):
Also, please take a moment to rate and review the
show or Apple Podcasts orwherever you're listen in.
It helps listeners find us andjoin our wellness community.
Thank you for tuning in.
Disclaimer I am not a licensedmental health professional.
The information provided hereis for general informational

(12:05):
purposes only and should not beconsidered a substitute for
professional mental healthadvice, diagnosis or treatment.
If you need help, pleaseconsult a qualified mental
health professional.