If My Plate Could Talk: “When Life Feels Heavy?”

Cadra Sphere. How are you doing? It is so good to be in this space with all of you. I thought I would set up somewhere where some green and a little bit of sunshine could come through. We'll take a minute or so and give everybody an opportunity to just come into the space and be present. Right. Which can be easier said than done. I'm so glad that you are here. I have missed Sundays. I really have. Thank you for always being so flexible. Many of you know that I travel quite a bit, and then I needed to take some.

Some time myself, you know, and it feels good to be back and in this space. If this is your first time here. I'm Dr. Charisse Johnson, a licensed clinical mental health therapist, mindfulness practitioner, and author. I'm here twice a week so that we can learn and grow together. So keep coming back. I want you to think about this question and then when you're ready, answer in the chat. When you think about the way your life feels right now, what is one or two words? Thank you for the hearts that you would use to describe what.

Where life is for you right now. Hello, Erie, pa. I cannot believe I forgot to ask you all to let me know as well where you are in the world. Hello. Hello. I am, of course, in Charlotte. Well, I don't know why I'm saying of course, because I'm not always here, but that is where I am. 9 times out of 10, put in where you're from or where you're currently at right now, if you're comfortable. But what's one word that describes life for you right now? My life right now feels blank. Right. Maybe it feels heavy.

Maybe it feels wonderful. Maybe it feels complacent. Hello, North Jersey. Hello, Erie, Pennsylvania. Maybe it feels confusing, weary. Yes, that's one word. Hello, Vegas. Vegas is on my bucket list. I gotta get there this year. So what's one word? Because that's going to anchor us for our time today. The word that I'm going to use for the nature of our conversation is intense. You pick the word that is for you. But I really want to hone in on when you're in seasons of life that feel intense or heavy, how are you responding?

Right. I want you to think about when you're in situations, maybe you're just coming out of a season of life that felt really hard and really difficult. But when life feels like it's pressing in on us, sometimes we can immediately go to, hello, Northern Minnesota. Something's wrong. We go to I must have done something wrong. We Go to, why is this happening to me? Bad things always happen. So when life isn't going the way we'd like it to, or it feels like more than we want to tolerate, we often can view that as some type of rejection or some very difficult life lesson that is happening.

But what if the hard moments that you are currently in or that you been in in the past weren't rejection? What if they were a request? What you think about that? Because when we're going through tough times, intense times, routine times, when we're going through weary times, whatever the word may be that you're fitting in, for you, those moments might be a call for more. It might be a call for more integrity, for more clarity, for more presence. It's calling for more of you and maybe more of you in ways that you're still developing, in ways that you're not used to.

So here's part two to that question. What do you feel like you're learning about yourself based on the season that you're in right now? So if things are intense, what are you learning about? How you're managing that intensity or what you need? If life is weak, weary, what are you learning about what's making you weary or how to get through it? If life is routine, what is your routine showing you about yourself? Because it's so important to not view everything through the lens of, this is horrible, and I'm being punished.

But to see it under the dynamic of maybe it's calling me to rise, to be more than I've ever been in life before in different ways. So the next time your edges feel pushed, try not to shut down, try not to fight back, and try not to run away. Those are three of the most common things that we do when life is too much. We shut down. We fight back. Not always in great ways, or we run away instead. I want you to pause, I want you to breathe, and I want you to lead. All right, that might not be something that you're used to hearing.

The pause and breathe, I feel like, are pretty customary. But you might be thinking, well, why did. Why did you say lead? Don't ever stop. Excuse me? Leading in your own life. Hold on. The one time I don't bring water or something. A little tickle. If we're shutting down, if we're fighting back in ways that further exhaust us. If we're running away, we're not leading. We can feel stuck, we can feel complacent, we can spiral. And if you're in a place where you're spiraling, you're not leading. What would it look like for you to lead in your own life?

So here's two questions that you can ask yourself no matter what season you find yourself in. The first question is, what is this moment asking of me? Right. Going back to what we said before is asking for more integrity, more clarity, more presence, more you, more discipline, more flexibility, more strength, more understanding, more patience. What is this moment asking of me? And then the second question is, how can I show up with truth, not ego? And I want to take just a minute to talk about how ego comes in through every season of life.

We all have an ego, and ego isn't just this cocky part of you that you don't want anybody to see or that happens when you feel offended. Our ego in many ways, is a mask. It is the defense mechanisms that come up and keep us from growing, keep us from learning, keep us from evolving. Oh, I don't need that. Well, if they didn't do this, then I wouldn't be this way. Ego can get in the way of us really listening to what life is trying to teach us and moving forward in our own lives. So when you show up with truth, not ego, it's what do I know to be true about myself?

What do I know about my ability to handle this situation? Out of all the things that you're hearing and out of all the things that people are saying to you, what do you know is true and what are you rejecting as untrue about who you are? Because people will always view you through the lens of their own pain. I'm going to say those two questions again. What is this moment asking of you or asking of me? If you're answering it personally or. Or how can I show up with truth and not ego? Wherever you are in life right now, I want to remind you it's not trying to break you.

It's trying to wake you to your power, to your depth, and to your potential. So don't give up. This is something we always do on Sundays, and I don't ever want to stop doing it. I want you to take a moment, whether it's now or after you get off of this live and really ask yourself, what's on my plate? What's on your plate in terms of the responsibilities that you're carrying? What's on your plate? Take a look at your schedule for the coming week and really look at where you want to spend your time.

Are you over scheduled? Is there time for rest? Is there time for routine? Is there enough time for you to restore or do the things that you need to do. And then in parallel, what are you noticing about the way you're eating right now? That's the last question I'm going to ask you. If you're comfortable, you can answer in the chat. What is life showing you in terms of what you're eating? Because what we eat always gives indication of what we're carrying and what we're holding. Let me out myself.

I have no shame around this. I have been on this Jolly Rancher kick, y' all for, like, three weeks. Prior to that, I have not had a Jolly Rancher in years. But all of a sudden, that was the craving. And I am still nourishing that craving. I am moderating it down to a certain amount. I'm not denying myself that craving or. But I do need to get to the root of what shifted and what changed and what brought about that craving. Just using that as an example to normalize. We all have these moments, but what is your physical plate?

What you're eating, what you're drinking, what you're smoking telling you about the true condition of your life right now? And look at both of those elements. Not in shame, not through the lens of shame, but the lens of understanding the. The lens of curiosity. All right, if you heard at least one thing today that resonated with you, feel free to put some hearts in the chat. I have also been told by many that they People that they love. Seeing those hearts come up, it makes them feel really great and like they're not alone.

As always, I am so grateful that you chose to listen to come. Whether you're here in person or whether you're listening on replay, if you don't do anything else today, treat yourself well and make sure you rest. And remember, all is not lost. And I will see you again very, very soon. Have a great night. Yes, Jules, I totally get it. The sweets thing. Yeah, I really got to figure it out. I feel like I'm getting enough sleep because sometimes fatigue can create that stress. I don't know. But we'll figure it out together.

Thank you for your honesty. Have a good one.