South Carolina Fire-Rescue Conference (Day 1)

 

I have had the pleasure of presenting my mental health class, “Disposable Heroes” at this years conference.

The overall vibe here is awesome and the people are great. My class went pretty well and I received good feedback from it. I have another class tomorrow and I am hoping for the same. The wife has started joining me, as she provides very important insight from the spouse/family angle. 

Met some really great vendors with really cool products… like activated charcoal soap for after fires or messy calls (who knew?). I was able to share some pictures of the pet oxygen masks in action to a rep that donates them to agencies. She was very pleased to see them in use. 

The food choices in Columbia are awesome. We have eaten at the 929 Kitchen, Kaminsky’s dessert cafe, Liberty Tap Room, Marble Slab Creamery, and Publico. They were all amazing!

A great day with my people…

Body pain and depression

My body hurts. It’s hurt for a long time. Most of the time, it’s not from an injury (most of the time) but it feels like it should be. Most of my joints, my back, my hips, my head... all of it. A line from Indiana Jones really resonates with me know...

“It’s not the years... it’s the mileage”

I have been rough on my body and it lets me know... everyday. 

What makes it worse though is the added aches from depression and anxiety. The worse I am feeling headspace-wise, the more physical pain I will have. Which often times results in a Ferris wheel of increasing depression, anxiety, and body pain.

Some days it all looms over me and I just let it saturate everything. Sometimes I just don’t have (or don’t want) the will to push back. 

What I would rather do is redirect that energy into something I enjoy. Something worth while and beneficial. That’s why I am really glad I found woodworking and archery. 

They both gave me a positive outlet for any emotion I may be having. Bad day? Put my issues on an arrow and SEND IT! Anxiety building up? Cut up some wood, sand it down, and put the nervous energy to work. 

They both give me time to process my thoughts, relax and regroup. I can’t stress the importance of having SOMETHING that gives you those things. It could be anything and who cares what it is? As long as it offers you some positive benefits... it’s awesome.

I still have pain but it’s not what it used to be when it stayed bottled up. Don’t keep things inside where they will break you down. Use them as fuel to make a better YOU!