Mental and Emotional Refreshment

We already know how to physically refresh ourselves

By W. Thomas Smith Jr.

In a conversation this morning with Chris Carter, my good friend of many years, he asked the following question: “How do I mentally refresh myself: I already know how to physically refresh myself.”

It was a wonderful question and one which forced me to consider or re-consider my own ability to mentally refresh over the years. And Chris – a lifelong athlete, former semi-pro football player, U.S. Air Force veteran, career firefighter, and fellow scribe – is not new to the refreshing game. As he said, “I know how to physically refresh myself: It’s all a matter of physical rest, re-hydrating myself, eating the right foods, and allowing my body to cool down when it is over-heated and over-exerted.”

Chris added: “The problem for me is how do I mentally and emotionally refresh myself when I can’t take a break from that which is mentally and emotionally taxing me? I want to be able to push through physical hardship and exhaustion, and I want to be able to do it in style.”

Those final 10 words are key.

SO HOW do we push through hardship and exhaustion and do it in style? A few ways: Whenever I was suffering through extreme hardship as a young Marine, I would remind myself that as a Marine, I was a member of one of the world’s most elite military organizations and that there was literally nothing I could not endure because of who and what I was. I would also remind myself that such a self-reminder was NOT HUBRIS or exaggerated self-confidence BUT FACT. Interestingly, I reminded myself of this exact same fact in the immediate wake of a stroke I suffered in May 2024, now nearly a year ago. Why? Once a Marine, always a Marine: 250 years of tradition, and not sullying that tradition, means something to us.

I know some of you will roll your eyes at this, but it has absolutely always worked and still works for me in terms of mentally and emotionally refreshing myself.

What else? No matter what physical (mental and emotional) hardship I am enduring, I carefully pace myself with quick, easily achievable, short-term goals. I learned this from another good friend of many years, retired U.S. Navy SEAL Commander Mark Divine. As Mark explained, a SEAL candidate going through BUD/S training (the initial training for SEAL hopefuls wherein the attrition rate is extremely high) should never think about the endgame of BUD/S training.

In other words, if a young man is physically spent, exhausted, slightly injured, wet, and freezing, he should never contemplate his suffering at the same time he is considering the arduous six months in front of him. That’s simply too much for anyone to endure mentally and emotionally. INSTEAD, that young SEAL candidate should remind himself that he only has to endure his present suffering until lunchtime. THEN after lunch, he only has to endure suffering until supper (dinner). Then he only has to suffer until bedtime and lights out. This mental and emotional refreshment cycle must continue throughout the training pipeline.

I find that this constant “refreshment” cycle works in all evolutions of our lives regardless of what we are having to endure.

Take time to breathe and breathe well, seriously, and to think happy thoughts about those we love the most. Breathe the kind of slow, deep, deliberate breathing I always try to do at the doctor’s office whenever I want to achieve a really good blood-pressure reading. Trust me it works in terms of mental and emotional refreshment… and it helps achieve a good blood-pressure reading.

Speaking of doctors, another good friend, Dr. Dave Pearson, an ER physician practicing in Charlotte, N.C. once told me: “No matter how stressed you are, regardless of deadlines, regardless of how overworked and physically spent you may be, take a moment to shut everything down and go outside for a quick walk.”

Dave added: “When you think you don’t have time or energy, that’s the time you really need to do it.” A quick walk, he said, works wonders for the body-mind connection and one’s ability to mentally and emotionally refresh.

That’s not all, as Christians, we discover absolute mental and emotional strength through Christ Himself. Take Paul’s letter to the Philippians, specifically Philippians 4:13. he literally said: “I can do all things through Him [Christ] who strengthens me.” Never dismiss this eternal truth. By the way, that verse has been on my refrigerator door through two refrigerators over 20 years.

What are our mental and emotional refreshment takeaways?

Remind yourself of who and what you are (for me, that means being a Marine rifleman and a child of God. For others, maybe it’s being a dad or a mom or a granddad, a grandmother, a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister, an uncle, an aunt, a successful businessperson, a schoolteacher, a police officer, a respected member of your church, an athlete and a firefighter like my buddy Chris, a dependable friend or an otherwise important individual). Set short term endurance goals (remember, you only have to suffer until lunch). Breathe and breathe well. Go for a walk (even if you’re physically stressed and don’t think you have the time). And REMIND YOURSELF that Christ is the absolute source of your (our) physical, mental, emotional, even spiritual strength.

Do these things and you’ll refresh yourself mentally and emotionally, and you’ll weather your temporary physical hardship as my buddy Chris says he wants to do “in style.”

 

W. Thomas Smith Jr. is a formerly deployed U.S. Marine infantry leader and a New York Times bestselling editor. Visit him online at http://uswriter.com.