Your Healing Journey – A Journey of Hope

About Your Healing Journey – A Journey of Hope

Doug travels with you on your healing journey whether it be as a result of mental health challenges or grief. He shares his personal story and his lived experiences so that “You Are Not Alone”. He has found that sharing his story has helped others and has been very therapeutic for him as well.

Publisher

Doug Lawrence

Category

health & fitness · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

2 Jan 2024

Latest episode

3 Apr 2024

Latest episodes

7 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   3 Apr 2024

   The Power of Lived Experience

2. 

   12 Feb 2024

   Valentines Day and Memories

   Hello, and welcome to another episode of your healing journey, a journey of hope. Today I wanted to spend just a few moments talking about Valentine's Day, which is only a couple days away, and the memories that it left with, certainly with me, and with the time I spent together with Deborah. So Valentine's Day typically is, the relationship there is more so for the purchase of flowers to give to your significant other, your loved one, perhaps a dinner out are some of the things I know when I think back, those were some of the things that were precious to us. And now what I'm left with is the memory of giving those flowers. I can still remember taking flowers to where my wife Deborah worked, and that was always the big deal was getting the flowers delivered to her place of work, and usually I probably overdid it just a little bit as far as the size of the bouquet and that, but in any event, she was my valentine, and I wanted to be able to honor her in doing so. One of the things that I found as time has gone on since Deborah passed in 2021 was that special occasions have a way to trigger memories, have a way to trigger our response or reaction to a number of things, and actually they are a reminder of what we had and what we could have had, had she have lived longer than what she did. And for most of us, I think what we need to be able to do is to be able to think of why this day is so special, and by that I mean Valentine's Day. What is or what was the significance of that day to us in order to be able to move forward? You know, some things have changed, and we wish we could go back, but we know that we can't, or reality sets in and we realize that going back is not an option. It's another day to remember and to actually, you know, it's Deborah's birthday is coming up on the 24th, and her daughter is arranging to have a birthday supper in her honor, and that's, sorry, that's important to me that they would take the time and effort to do that, my son and my daughter, so that even though it may be another day to remember, it still has significance and we still want to honor her in however we possibly can. And so, I'm getting emotional here, so I just, I wanted to, as we're getting close to wrapping up here, I wanted to just let her know, let Deborah know that you were my valentine for 43 years, and every day is a memory that I wish to cherish and hold. And so thank you for giving me that opportunity. And to our listening audience, I sincerely hope that you take the time to celebrate Valentine's Day and the love that you have for your significant other. Take that time and let them know how much you actually do love them, whether it's simply just saying I love you, or whether it's a bouquet of flowers, chocolates, whatever makes you feel happy. I know for me, the flowers eventually kind of petered out and it became recognizing that we loved each other and spending some quality time together outside of what would be considered the norm. And so I encourage you to do what you have to do in order to share those memories and to read and actually to remember what you had and what you could have had, had things been different. And with that, may God bless.

3. 

   29 Jan 2024

   The Dreaded Week-end

   Well, good morning. I thought I'd post this early this morning before I take off and head off to Sask Polytech to speak to the HR class on mental health. And it kind of triggered something that I felt I needed to do, which was to talk a little bit about the dreaded weekend. And what I mean by that is we're coming up to three years since Debra passed and out of, aside from her not being here, the other part is the aspect of the weekends was when we used to do so much together. That was our together time. We would visit the grandchildren, we would visit friends, we would do all sorts of exciting things, but we did that together. And that's what's missing for me today. And that's why if somebody says, you know, how was your weekend? I typically will tell people that it was all right, but it's not my favorite time of the week. And that's simply just because there is a piece of it missing a key integral part of it being my happy time, which was the time that I would spend with Debra. So for those of you that are going through the grieving process, I'm sure some of you will be able to echo my thoughts and feelings. And in any event, I hope that you have a great week and may God bless.

4. 

   23 Jan 2024

   Mentor Programs and Mental Health

   Hello, and I'm back again just to have another chat with you to share some insight into some things we need to be aware of when it comes to the implementation of a mentoring program. One of the things that I have started to recommend to individuals, organizations, when they go to implement a mentoring program is that they take a look at the aspect of mental health being part of that. Let me give you an example is that when it comes to young entrepreneurs who are striving forth to take a concept, an idea, a dream, and turn it into a reality, they will encounter a number of different challenges from a mental health perspective as they go along their journey. I've mentored a few individuals that, you know, initially right at the very beginning of the mentoring relationship, we identified that there were some mental health challenges that needed to be at the forefront of our conversations so that we were able to deal with those as time evolved through the mentoring relationship. One of the things that I found that's really important to sort of be mindful of is when you go to implement a program in an organization is to make sure that you take advantage of this opportunity to create that support structure for mental health and for your employees in the organization. If you'll recall, we did a post, a video on the agriculture industry and dealing with the aspect of grief and how it all impacted their mental health and being an old farm boy from way back when, I know for a fact, I know that that's truthful, is that the lifestyle and everything that you had to deal with on the farm certainly led to more and more involvement with the mental health part of your life. What's interesting is that back in my younger years, we didn't talk about that stuff very much because it just was not something that you did, but as time has progressed, we're now talking about it. But my point is that talking is great, that gets it out there, but we're not providing any steps in order to be able to deal with it, to give people the tools that they need in order to be able to deal with mental health and that. In the agriculture industry, not to revisit what we talked about already, but the grief causes anxiety, stress, and a number of other factors that need to be addressed. We can't really afford to look the other way, as I can tell you from firsthand experience, the consequences are not always what we had hoped for. It's really important for us to be able to recognize the power that mentoring can have in a mentoring relationship, especially when it comes to working with individuals who are in fact struggling with mental health. So I encourage you to, wherever possible, and if you need to reach out to me, please feel free to do so, but we need to have that conversation around the aspect of where does mental health fit in my organization? Where does mental health fit in my business? Where does mental health fit in anything that I do as an individual? So looking at it from those sort of those three different pillars. And so I encourage you to take a moment and think about that, and think about your mentoring programs that you may or may not have in your organization. And can I implement a mentoring program and include mental health as part of that? So in closing, I wish you all the best. And like I said, if you have some questions on that, please feel free to reach out to me and we can have a conversation about those. So please take care and God bless.

5. 

   19 Jan 2024

   FARMING AND MENTAL HEALTH

   So, I grew up on a farm. I spent the first 18 or 19 years of my life on the farm doing, you know, the usual stuff. And what I didn't realize was the impact that farming in general had on my mental health, and most definitely the mental health of family members. And just to qualify that a little bit more, one of our family members had a firsthand experience with mental health challenges in that they, because of all the pressures and everything else that was going on, they ended up taking their own life. And, you know, when you think about that and the impact that that has, how that deprived other family members of having more time with that particular individual, having them, you know, being able to provide the leadership for younger members of the family so that, you know, we can move forward with our lives and learn and grow from the, you know, the experience of this particular individual not taking into account the whole mental health umbrella. Large part of that, and there were some other things that went on that I'm not going to elaborate on in this video, but there was definitely a stigma, just as there is in a lot of other professions, and just as for males in general, is the stigma about it's a sign of weakness if you admit to the fact that you're struggling with mental health challenges. And certainly the agriculture industry is no different. That stigma is there. And like I said, at the beginning of this video was the fact that I grew up on a farm. So I'm very much aware of the whole idea of what you could talk about and what you couldn't talk about. And, you know, struggling, dealing with mental health and all those things were all things that you did not talk about, for sure. What's interesting is that about 225 million farmers worldwide struggle with mental health and mental health challenges. 225 million. You know, and when I think back to the time that I spent on the farm, we didn't explore, you know, the numbers like that, because that would have helped us identify that there was a need to do something. So what are some of the factors that we need to be mindful of? And when we look at the agriculture industry, farming in general, and the first one that comes to mind is the financial uncertainty. And I know that we went through a time period where financially the farms struggled. That's probably the softest way to describe it. The farm did struggle. And there was a definite need for us to come up with a solution, which of course was we ended up selling the farm. What was interesting was that the farm was offered to me as the oldest boy on the farm. Farm was offered to me and I made a, what I think today is a rational decision to not stay on the farm. And I ended up moving away and starting a different profession or career. So financial uncertainty is definitely one and with the markets and everything being what they are today, that certainly would stand out. There's barriers to actually getting mental health services. So because of the rural proximity, the remoteness and all of that, there's definitely a challenge in getting those mental health services. I know when I was going through and I was an active law enforcement officer stationed in rural locations that I didn't have access to any support from, you know, mental health services, access to a psychologist, psychiatrist, social worker, all that. We had none of that. And the farming industry is, was and still is to some extent, not much different than that. There's a blurred distinction between work and home, home life. So, you know, it would be so nice if we could just kind of leave it, leave it at the office when in fact, you know, the farm becomes part of your life and things that happen out on the North 40 come back to the kitchen table at supper time for discussion. And sometimes it, you know, it, it raises issues that we need to be, to be looking at. And then one of the other things that I know, for a fact, and I've seen it in a couple different places is the fact that there's, there's easy access to firearms. So on the farm, you, you know, obviously for hunting and, and all of those things that you actually have access to a firearm. So it, it provides, it gives you the opportunity that if you did make a decision, that that's the path you're going to take, you have easy access, you know, to, to a firearm to be able to do that. What we need to do communities as a whole, organizations, all of those that, especially when it comes to the farming industry, agriculture in general, is we need to have a support structure in place that's going to be there for, for the farmers who are struggling with those mental health challenges, that support structure. It needs to be in each and every community that, you know, that we're talking about. And people that are part of that support structure, and even you as, as a listener to this video, you need to understand the symptoms of mental health. And you need to know where to go to get help. And we, you know, we've improved a great deal over the course of years and decades in that. So there are services available, but you just need to know where to go to, to get access to them. So that's something else that you need to, you know, be mindful of. And if you think this isn't a major issue, do some searches on the internet if you get a chance. And I was blown away this morning when I was doing a bit of research in preparation for this video was the how, what the statistics are for the number of people in the agriculture farming industry, what the statistics actually are for the number of people who, who death by suicide, and doesn't have to be that way. You know, all I have to do is just think back to growing up as a youngster and, and losing a family member to, to suicide because of, you know, no support structure. There's a stigmatism attached with reaching out and asking for help. And if there's nothing else that at the end of this video, if there's nothing else that you take away other than the fact that you need to reach out, you need to ask for help, and help will be there for you. But you have to take that step, you have to extend your hand and say, I need help. And if you do, there will be help available for you. And so when you get a chance, I hope you can listen to this. And like I said, it's well worth your time and effort to do some quick searches on the internet and search on agriculture, and mental health, and you'll be quite surprised at what you're going to come up with. So in closing, take care. Thank you for listening and God bless.

6. 

   8 Jan 2024

   Alone or Lonely

   As most of you will recall in my last post I talked about Christmas and it being a tough time without my wife Debra being here with us and maybe just to sort of refresh everybody's memory. Debra lost a courageous battle with cancer in 2021. Actually it's coming up in February, the anniversary of her passing, so that by itself will be a tough time and actually that fits quite nicely into what I'm talking to you today about is from a grief perspective we talk about being lonely and being alone and I wanted to just provide some insight into what each one of those actually is or are. So, when we look at at the the state of being alone that's actually a physical state where you are physically by yourself and I'm not sure how many of you who are going through the grieving process have experienced that but it's it's not a it's an unpleasant experience for lack of a better choice of words and lonely if you feel as though you're lonely that's an emotional state where you're actually feeling alone or disconnected from others and where that comes in is you could be at a family gathering but yet you still feel lonely because you in essence you haven't connected with the people that are that are there for the family family gathering and it's very difficult to to be able to kind of decide which path you want to sort of take to be able to interact a little bit more. I know I find that even still it's kind of a double-edged sword is number one you're you're lonely so you want to connect with all these people you know family members and such but number two is that you can only handle periods of of gathering with people you can only handle just so much of that and then it it becomes a bit onerous and you have a difficult time fitting in and largely do actually truth be known largely due to the fact that society is a couples based society and as a result of that a person who is kind of flying solo is somewhat of an anomaly and doesn't always fit in people have a difficult time trying to determine what they should how they should strike up a conversation what they should say or what they shouldn't say and all those sorts of things. What's interesting you know that you know when we think of lonely and loneliness and all of that in 2023 which we just left behind us about 52% of people in the United States suffer from feelings of loneliness and so it's not something that we've kind of conjured or dreamt up it's something that's actually there it's real life it's something that we deal with and so my only advice that I can give to you is number one it is part of the grieving process and you are going to undoubtedly at some time point go through that you need to to be able to have some coping skills so whether it's reaching out to other people to to connect with just go and have a coffee and you know so you keep that time frame compressed but yet you're still feeding and nurturing the need for for contact or you know fulfilling the need of having to to deal with being alone and being lonely at this I guess at the same time, so I I would encourage you that if you've got questions please you know send them to me and we can certainly have a conversation about how I go through that process and maybe in future posts I will elaborate a bit further on how I deal with that being being alone and being lonely are two things that are that I struggle with on on a daily weekly basis so you would not be alone if you felt the same and and we together we can probably work this out and go from there so I hope that you have a great day and God bless!

7. 

   2 Jan 2024

   Grief and Christmas

   Christmas is supposed to be a time of happiness when we come together and spend time with family and friends to celebrate the holiday season. And yet for some of us, it's not as cheerful of a holiday season as what it could be for you. In my particular case, I lost my wife Debra to cancer in 2021 and she was the Christmas person. She brought cheer and joy and she took Christmas to another level that I don't seem to be able to do. And as a result of that, there's still an emptiness that needs, that I would love to be able to fill and I'm still struggling at being able to do that. And so Christmas, we need to celebrate Christmas as best we possibly can. And that may very well be looking for coping skills that are going to help us deal with our grief, our sadness from the loss of a loved one. And there most definitely is a lot of that to be dealt with. So if you're someone who is going through this, you are not alone. Just remember that, that your grief that you're experiencing is unique, but at the same time, you're not by yourself. You're not on your grief journey by yourself, that I'm there with you as well. And so always remember that Christmas is a time to be happy and yet we still have the grieving process that we're going through that fits into that as well. So take care and God bless.

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