Navigating Personal Beliefs Amidst Political Turmoil: A Holistic Approach to Well-Being

**Are You Truly Grounded? Exploring Beliefs, Mental Health, and Spiritual Battles**

In this thought-provoking episode, we delve deep into the question: What do you truly stand for?

Join us as we explore the intersection of mental health and spiritual battles amidst America's current political turmoil. Discover how grounding practices can help alleviate anxiety and depression by connecting with your physical, emotional, and spiritual self.

Key Takeaways:
- Techniques to ground yourself physically before addressing mental health issues.
- The importance of understanding personal beliefs in a world full of influence.
- How courage and bravery play crucial roles in overcoming fear-driven societal pressures.

Tune in now to embark on a journey of self-reflection and empowerment!

In this morning's podcast, I want to present to you the idea pondering what is it that you stand for? What is it that you believe? At the time of of this podcast, there's great tumult in, America right now over the different political parties, and as I'm continuing to see clients who wrestle with mental health disorders, struggling with anxiety and depression, so forth, addiction, you name it, The the great turmoil that we find ourselves in, is just adding to it increases fear and and worry and anxiety, and I think there are forces behind that. That's why I think much much of what we're dealing with in the world really are spiritual battles. I know that some some don't like to talk about that so much as it relates to mental health.

But when I when I check-in with clients every single week, first of all, I this is the process I go through with them. I said, alright. Let's get grounded before we begin our session. How are you doing physically? Monitor yourself.

Just take a moment. Relax. Take a couple deep breaths. Monitor yourself from head to toe. How are you doing in your body?

Just trying to get them grounded in in their body in the now. It's amazing how how we ignore what our body is saying. So this gives us a a a moment. I wanna give clients an opportunity to go, man, my shoulder really hurts. Or I'm noticing, you know, my legs not my knee has been hurting or so forth.

Just just to acknowledge it. To see if there's something that needs to be done with it. Anyway, so we check-in physically, then I go emotionally. What words would you use to describe how you're doing emotionally? And then we talk about that for a few minutes and then I go, and how are you doing spiritually and what does that mean to you today?

And this question gives individuals a moment to pause and reflect on the purpose of their life. Why are we here? Where did we come from? What is it that we are supposed to do? What is your mission in life?

Does it matter? I mean, I think there's significant questions And as we are trying to figure out where we stand in the world, we are one of the things that I'm I'm becomes it's so clear to me. We are in a world of influence. We are influenced by this, by that, by the other, by stronger personalities. And a lot of what's going on in in our in America right now, in 2024 before on this upcoming election, has caused me to reflect on the founding fathers of the Republic of America.

Then there's a quote by Thomas Jefferson, the author, the principal author of the of the Declaration of Independence. And he says this, and as it relates to differences and each of us finding out who we are and what it is that we believe. He says, to me it appears that there have been party differences from the first establishment of governments to the present day. Everyone takes his side in favor of the many or the few. In other words, we all we all have the ability to choose for ourselves what it is that we're gonna believe.

What I wanna present to you today in this podcast is that you get your mind and your heart involved or your gut. We have a gut instinct within us. So the question is, how do you know what's right? How do you know what to believe? And to me, it's a combination of how you feel in your gut and bringing your rational mind into play, where you you listen to both sides of a story, listen to different angles of things, And remember that there are very persuasive forces out there getting one to to lean this way or that way.

It seems to me all all we do is live in a world of influence. And many ideas, philosophies, feelings, are swirling around on a regular basis. And I've watched people change their minds about certain things. Some who are so committed to, for example, the Democratic party. They see and experience a lot of things, then they change to the Republican party and back and forth and and so forth on so many different issues.

Whether it's religion, whether it's gender identity issues, whether it's every it can be related to almost every decision we make. I'm just asking you to stop, reflect on what you think is really going on. And I want you to understand, and I have seen this clearly. We are, as human beings, are very susceptible to the influences of forces that are not positive, that are not for a they're not correct. And yet people get get dragged down a certain and this is what's happening with anxiety and depression.

It's like I mean, yes, there are chemical things involved, but a lot of it has to do with with our thinking. Anxious thoughts create worry and fear. And there are forces out there that their very purpose is to create worry and fear to constantly keep you afraid as if there is is, some other force. If you rely on them, that they will take care of you. I encourage you to be strong and independent, to think strong, to be grounded inside of yourself, to trust yourself, to trust your feelings.

So when we're, when we are confronted with anything that's fearful, our brain in our limbic system, survival part of the brain, there's a little thing called the amygdala And here are the 4 responses that that we can take to any threat to us, emotional or physical. Okay. There's fight, flight, freeze, or collapse. Those are the 4 things that we do in order to stay alive. So something comes at you, you can fight it.

You run away. And if you don't feel you're strong enough to deal with the threat that you can't fight it, you can't run away, you just freeze, kinda like a deer in the headlights, or you just collapse in a way you play dead so that the threatening thing will kind of leave you alone, letting letting giving the message they've already won. The challenge is in our current world, I believe far too many. The least thing that we do is fight. So many frozen, so many collapsed.

They're afraid of of so many things in our culture and it just weakens us. It's I want to encourage you to look inside yourself, to begin the process of trusting yourself, getting your feet planted in reality, using your mind, believing that you can figure things out, believing that you have the capacity to to fight things. It seems like really interesting book out right now. It's called The War on Warriors. Pete Hegseth.

As as I think I mentioned in many of these podcasts, I just, I love to read. And it's like many people nowadays, and this this is the world in which we're living in right now, traditional values of there really is right and wrong, family is important, Parents are important to children and to raising children. That has come under attack, like never before. And and the fear that has been, thrown upon us by opposing forces to that, it's it's all about power and control. And that this whole anyway, I'll give you my perspective on how how self esteem and mental health works.

It absolutely has to do with something called meritocracy. We have to earn things. In order to develop confidence, you have to work. You have to be able to trust yourself. You have to know what it is that you can do.

And you only do that by work. You only do that by trying things and failing and then getting up and trying again and failing again and getting up and failing again and not letting that crush you. And so that you have confidence in yourself and your abilities. And even with that, there's still there's still no place where you're absolutely perfect. And learning learning to embrace that mindset of whatever stands in the way becomes the way the obstacle is the way.

It's I I I love the statement by Marcus Aurelius. Remember remember the last of the 5 great Roman emperors? What the pow most powerful man on the planet at the time? And he said this, when facing obstacles, he says, impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.

That that shows forth courage and bravery. I believe courage and bravery are under attack more so now than ever before. People are afraid to speak their truth. They're afraid to be ridiculed, especially those who are standing up for traditional values. There is a war, an absolute war, and I believe it is.

I I truly believe it is a spiritual war going on to try to destroy the very fabric of society. And if if if, I had more time, and maybe I will in one of these other podcasts, go in a little deeper on my my perspective on that and where that all came from, where it began, and why that why that is happening. More bringing maybe a spiritual aspect, scriptural apps, and anyway, aspect into it. But the purpose of this podcast, I really just want you to take a look at yourself and ask yourself the question, where do you stand? What is it that you believe?

Why do you believe those things? And are how certain are you that you're really on the right path? The best way to, access those feelings is to be still. One of the things that I've noticed is that those who have gone too far to the left, they they don't they have to be loud, screaming loud, and and they avoid being still. They avoid looking in the mirror.

They avoid asking themselves these questions. What is right about this particular idea? Is following this line of thinking going to help me and benefit me? There's, I remember talking to yeah. I'll keep the identity of this person, anyway, private right now, but someone I I love and respect greatly.

And I asked asked the question. I said, don't you ever think and struggle with negative thoughts, with bad thoughts? This is when I was writing the book, The Language of Recovery. And in the mindfulness chapter, I did a chapter on mindfulness and meditation and how challenging it is for us to meditate as our thoughts wander to and fro. And her response to me was, I don't allow myself to think certain things.

Ponder that. I don't allow myself to think certain things. And it reminds me of a statement, all or a little poem, if I can remember it correctly. All the water in the world, however hard it try, can never sink the smallest ship unless it gets inside. Anyway, want you just to take a moment and self reflect.

Where are you? Are you finding peace in your life? What do you believe? Are they your beliefs or are you carrying other people's beliefs? And because we catch thoughts from other people, we we are influenced by others.

We live in a sea of influence and the strongest and healthiest people in the world are ones who can be grounded inside themselves, not allow fear to dictate how they are going to face the world. And I'll end I'll end this podcast with this statement with a with a quote from the bible. It's actually Moses talking to Joshua as they were going over into the promised land and it's it's it's I love the words. He says, be strong and have a good courage. Fear not nor be afraid of them For the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee.

He will not fail thee nor forsake thee. So I'm just gonna leave you those thoughts to ponder. Where are you at? What is it that you believe? Are your beliefs helping you or hindering you?

And are there some things you need to change in your life? And if so, dig down, find courage and bravery, and set forth and change the things, start the process of changing, go to war. Change the things that you need to change if things are not working in your life.