Restoring Balance

(Note: This image was created last night, after a very long weekend.)

I do not hide that some of my responsibilities in life have dramatic impacts on my emotional well-being. Considering I routinely respond to disasters, medical emergencies, and death scenes, it became important that I found a technique to bring balance back to my emotions after particularly trying incidents.

This past weekend was challenging for many of us. Our EMS pagers sounded more often than normal. With EMS providers being in short supply, that meant several responses with an ambulance within a short time period.

Yesterday the tones went off for many to respond to a particularly violent trauma call. Our responder family worked together for hours to process the scene. As the process was wrapping up, I recognized a need to restore balance again.

Nature is my “go to” when life is weighing heavy on my mind. So last night, cold or not, I took a full moon hike on a frozen Wapsipinicon River. In the process of cleansing my mind I recorded an image appropriate for my reason for being there.

If you look close, you can see that my body appears almost ghost-like. My walk in the moonlight seemed the same, as if I was there physically, but mentally I was just present in spirit as I soaked in the silence (except for crunching snow), the rising full moon, and the star-filled sky overhead. Nothing heavy entered my thoughts for the brief time I was out…no tones, no stress, no decisions. How appropriate that my self-image shows me present in form, but not really clearly visible - similar to how I felt.

Each of us needs healthy options to clear our minds so we refresh our souls. Nature does it for me. How about you? What is your technique for achieving balance? Do you have something? Balance is good for your body and soul. If you have nothing, consider a walk in the outdoors.