MENTAL HEALTH — ACTION
What Surfing Taught Me About Grief and Guilt
Three strategies for dealing with waves of emotion
For the last month or so, most mornings have begun with a cup of tea in bed while I log on to local webcams. There are four permanently monitoring the beaches near my apartment. If the surf looks good I slip into my wetsuit, jump on my bike and in ten minutes I am in the surf. If the surf is not looking good, I slump back into bed and slowly shake off waves of grief and depression that have become a regular part of my life.
As I fought the Atlantic breakers this morning, I considered the three ways I was dealing with the physical waves in the ocean and began relating them to dealing with the waves of emotion in my own life.
It starts with making the decision to engage.
How do you deal with your emotions? Do you engage with them? Are you afraid of them? Do you feel you have to conquer or manage them? Do you desensitise yourself and avoid them?
I recognised that often I am unaware of emotional waves approaching and I ignore them until they overwhelm me and I can do nothing but collapse in a heap with Netflix and chocolates.
