The Leader of SCES Peer Support has sent us the beautiful message below. If anyone in the SCFP Spouse Association could use a little extra support right now, please remember we’re all here for one another. Reach out; there are lots of people who want to help (see this link. Password to view page: Fire Spouse – remember capitals and space between words). Let’s take care of one another.
Your SCES Peer Team wants to share a short message with all of our SCES Family, both immediate and extended.
Summer has gone (if it ever was here) and September has come so quickly. I don’t know about you, but for me and my household, September can be filled with some challenges that can take a pretty big toll on not only mine, but my whole family’s mental state. Some of these challenges may not be a part of your life or reality just now, but things like;
-Rapidly diminishing hours of daylight.
-Cooler weather (well not really)
-Back to school activities.
-New Schools.
-New or changes in job circumstances.
-Changes around childcare.
-New bedtimes and schedules.
… can all have a pretty big impact on how we are able to manage our every day stressors.
In addition to these everyday stressors, SCES has had a particularly challenging and stressful year as individuals and as a group. Within the next week we will mark the anniversary of losing Dernzy. As that day approaches, arrives and passes it is likely that all of us will be impacted in quite different ways. You have heard or will be hearing messages from different sources over the next few days and weeks as we all navigate the recent losses of our brothers, Darren and Doug. Some of us have also experienced the recent loss of other family members. While we are each figuring out how to honour and remember those who are gone, I want you all to remind yourselves and your families of a few things.
-All people will process loss and grief differently. That means that wherever you may be in moving through your sense of loss or grief may not (likely won’t) be in step with anyone else. – THIS IS NORMAL
-There is potential for heightened sensitivity and emotion from yourself, your SCES brothers and sisters and even your families. (sadness, guilt, fear, confusion, anger, uncertainty are just a few of the things that may bubble up) -THIS IS NORMAL
-Some may not even know where their emotions, feelings or reactions are coming from. You may feel that you have “moved on”, yet are just a bit more irritable, short tempered or sensitive for no apparent reason. THIS IS NORMAL
Your Peer Team has some suggestions for you as we all try to walk through this together and individually:
Be Gentle on Yourself and Others. Please allow yourself to feel what you feel (even if it is “nothing”) and allow others to feel what they feel.
Give Yourself and Others Permission. Permission to share “where you are at” with someone you trust. Permission to not share what your are feeling if you feel the setting is not appropriate or the person(s) are not sincere in helping.
Sleep when you can. Be deliberate in creating and protecting your own healthy sleep routines. The mental and physical benefits of uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep are staggering
Eat Well That means healthy food not lots of food.
Drink … More Water, Less Coffee, Less Alcohol and Less Social Media
Reach Out! Your may already have a solid support network around you, but even they can be taxed and in need of their own supports. Your SCES Peer Support Team is available 24/7 and they are all ready to serve you in anyway to get you to the help and resources that you might need. PLEASE USE THEM
In Fraternity, Humility, Grace and Love we can stand strong in the face of adversity.
Your Brothers and Sisters of the Peer Support Team.