Dealing With Despair

According to those very smart, very funny Nagoski sisters, our bodies are super smart. Part of us (they call it the Monitor) understands what our goals are, how much effort we are investing in that goal and how much progress we're making.

My Monitor understood during the pandemic that my goal (to help my community survive a pandemic without losing our collective minds) was requiring extreme effort (the things that foster community were not always possible in a lockdown) and we were not making progress (I am called lazy because I cannot figure out how to create a church environment "like the old days"). This blew all my circuits.

Despair, stress on steroids, became my friend - albeit an unwelcome guest. My pit of despair felt deep and wide. Despite what my Monitor was saying, I also have these core values that continually compel me to do things that my Monitor thinks is crazy. Like refuse to give up.

But I needed more support if I was going to get through this battle. How about you? Have you ever been at the end of your rope?