The “stuff” that comes to us in our lives – unfortunately does not happen on timelines that we get to choose.
Emotional bandwidth lives on a continuum just like our overall MH does. I can say w some certainty in my case, & I’m sure many of yours, that my bandwidth is often a symptom of my MH ebbs & flows.
This makes sense, doesn’t it? We take on more/have more going on in our lives, it leads to our “pots boiling over” & as a result no more room for “water” to be poured in.
What’s both fascinating & frustrating about MH & emotional bandwidth is, they’re not always a function of the “stuff” going on in our lives, at THAT very moment. If they were, it’d be easier to dismiss those difficult/low energy/sluggish days, as just a result of some intense situation we were dealing w right in front of us.
Instead, those pots – have had stagnant water in their bases for weeks, months, & even years. So sometimes it takes very little in the now, for our pots to start boiling over. Events from the past have a way of building inside of us silently.
Not knowing that in the past, on days (like last night into today) where I’d feel like I had no emotional bandwidth left, I’d try to muscle through (brain muscle at least), & would keep trying to take on more, proving to myself I could compartmentalize.
But I’ve learned that’s – no bueno. Like running on a treadmill w a bum ankle trying to prove to myself I could keep going.
Low emotional bandwidth is like that ankle pain. It’s a signal from our body, to slow it down. Not to cram in more. Not to prove we can push thru. The quicker we accept that, the quicker the water in the pot drains, the quicker we get some bandwidth back. – Normalize Rough Days!
