Pep Talk

I find myself often looking for a pep talk.

I have given many to my kids over the years and even to Cavan on occasion.  Sometimes, I even give them to myself, only I’m afraid that the pep talks to myself are a little more brutal, but then, aren’t we all a little hard on ourselves?

Just yesterday, I sent a Pinterest pin to one of my kids saying ‘Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.’  Every now and then we need someone (even ourselves!) to remind us that even though we are at a low point, we are not worthless and just need some encouragement to carry on.  

Sometimes we are at a really low point and need serious help and a simple pep talk isn’t good enough.  I thought I was at that point a little after my ex-husband left me when our youngest was 4 months old.  I saw a ‘shrink’ who told me that it takes about two months for every year you were together, to get over a person, and that by Christmas I would be fine.  That was not a pep talk and was not of use at all quite frankly.  Not to mention that everyone goes through things in their own time.

So, we all learn to carry on in our own way, or not.  I remember another instance, when I was in hospital, when I was first diagnosed with MS.  My neurologist recommended that I see a psychologist at the hospital.  It was funny actually, he asked me several questions like, ‘Are you sleeping okay?’, ‘How much are you drinking?’, ‘Are you taking any drugs?’, that sort of thing.  After that he said ‘So, you seem fine, why did you come to see me?’

I explained about my husband telling me he was leaving when our youngest was a week and a half old, going to tell my parents about it and finding my father had a brain tumor, losing a great aunt that I was very close to, being effectively demoted when I returned to work, living on caffeine pills to function when I returned to work from maternity leave and then the MS symptoms and diagnosis.  As I went through my story, his eyes got bigger and bigger and at the end, he wrote a prescription for antidepressants, without saying another word.  Interesting.

I think that in either case, a really good pep talk would have been more helpful.

Having said that, my favorite, although useless, pep talk of all time had to be by a friend of mine after I returned to work with MS; ‘Having MS is a good thing.  Now you can worry about having MS instead of worrying about not having a husband.’  Seriously?  Not having a husband never caused me even one minute of concern.

So, my personal pep talk for today; ‘Come on!  You will be fine!  Another year or two of work will be a breeze, compared to the 34 years before it!’

God love you all!  And may you be able to provide your own pep talks, with God’s voice in your own head, and carry on!!