Are you being challenged?

Are you facing challenges? Not sure if you are aware of this but we ALL face challenges. Absolutely no one is immune! My challenges are sure to be different than yours, which are different than those of your best friend, your child, your neighbor, or your boss. We all walk a different path, but none of those paths are without bumps and hurdles along the way.

While we are all well aware of the burdens that we carry with us, we cannot possibly be aware of the challenges that others are facing each and every day.

Earlier this week, a patient came into the office with a new complaint of lower back pain. During the conversation about the history of her pain, she casually mentioned some of the struggles that she has been dealing with. Struggles with aging parents. Struggles at work. Struggles with her spouse. Those struggles had a significant impact on the patient's stress levels. After telling me all about these struggles, for about 5 minutes, she looked at me and apologized. Can you believe that? She apologized for taking the time to unload some of her burden. I stopped her mid-apology and told her that there was no need to apologize.

There are times when we all just need to vent, and saying the words out loud and simply getting them off our chest can provide some relief from those burdens that we carry. Her pain may have been what brought her to our office, and we could have simply had a conversation about the physical cause of her pain, but the conversation about her stresses may have been the thing that helped her the most that day. 

Our conversation eventually turned back to her lower back pain, but there was a visible shift in her demeanor after sharing her stresses with me. 

If you are facing challenges, know that you are not alone. No one lives in a perfect, stress-free world. No one is immune to the curveballs that life throws at us. One of the most powerful things that you can do to relieve that burden is to find someone to talk to. It can be anyone that you trust. Your pastor. Your friend. Your therapist. Your rabbi. 

Find someone that you can trust to help you in those times of need. And the best way to thank that trusted friend, is to be that person for someone else whenever you are given the opportunity!