When we slow down and pay attention, clarity begins to emerge. This episode explores the quiet signals we ignore, what they’re trying to tell us, and how listening—without forcing change—can reconnect us to ourselves.
Dr. Jessica Green talks about mental wellness and personal growth. Making sure we're living in the moment and not trying to speed through life. We are waiting for some others to join.
Today we are going to talk about something that does not get enough attention until it demands that attention. It's going to be the signals that we ignore until we cannot ignore them anymore. So often those signals do not show up loudly. When we slow down and slow down enough, we notice that clarity.
Hello, Cadre world. This is Dr. Jessica Green. And we are here again as we talk about mental wellness, personal growth, but then our ability to focus on the things that we have going on in life, making sure we're living in the moment and not trying to speed through life. So as we are waiting for some others to join. Good morning, Andy. As we're waiting on some others to join, I want to welcome those individuals who join me every Wednesday, which I appreciate more than ever, but then also want to welcome those individuals who may be joining us for the first time.
And if this is your first time here, I want to say welcome. And on my live streams, we talk about mental health. We talk about our ability to focus, our ability to move from that person we were to that person we are now growing through every season, growing through life. So we can be two things. Be our authentic self, but then also be that person that people respect, admire, and look up to. So today we are going to talk about something that does not get enough attention until it demands that attention.
Right? So it's going to be the signals that we ignore until we cannot ignore them anymore. So in this live, it is for those individuals who have been feeling a little disconnected from themselves, and I wouldn't say not completely burnt out, not those individuals that may be in crisis, but for some of us who feel like we're just a little off. So here is the truth that I am going to continue to come back through with this live. Our attention changes everything. So when we slow down and slow down enough, we notice that clarity, and then we allow that to begin to emerge, but we allow it to emerge without force.
So we're not forcing it. We are just allowing it to happen. And I say that because so often those signals do not show up loudly. You know, those signals are those quiet moments. They are those whispers that we hear our body, our mind, and our soul continue to tell ourselves. And it looks like being tired all the time, even when you technically rested. It's that feeling where we are more irritable or we have that flight effect. And sometimes we tend to overthink and overthink. Those decisions that used to feel simple, you know, those decisions that we used to make, and we made them at a drop of a hat.
So losing interest in these things that once brought you joy is now affected by that sense of fatigue and feeling like the world may be getting the worst of you. And then sometimes it shows up in our body. It may be the tightening of the chest. Those symptoms may be the headaches, sometimes even Those shallow breathing where we feel like it really never leaves us. And when we think about these signals and we think about these behavior definitions, sometimes those signals aren't sense, you know, of weakness.
And they're not failure, but they are information that is trying to tell us that we need to slow down. And just as we talked in the last segment, you know, our world is not a sprint. It is a marathon where we have to slow down, but then also absorb and gain that information. So for most of us, you know, we try not to ignore them because we know when we feel that sense of fatigue, when we feel that irritability and that frustration, the world may be getting the worst of us. And sometimes we ignore them because we are busy trying to survive.
We're trying to move from living to surviving to thriving. So when we think about personal reflection, you know, for a long time, you know, I've even told myself I was fine, right? But I kept showing up. I kept doing what was needed to be done. I kept pushing through. And then when we look back, you know, I was not choosing to ignore myself. I just didn't know how to listen to my body. For some of us, we wear multiple hats. You know, sometimes we wear that Superman cape and that Superwoman cape.
And until we have that moment where our mind and our body and our emotions remind us, like, hey, we need to take a break and we need to reset. And sometimes those moments feel like a breaking point. But we have to realize that moment is not failure. It is our body, our mind, and our soul trying to give us that message, the clarity that we needed. And our body was forcing those answers. And sometimes we may try to fix everything and try to fix everyone, but until we allow ourselves to pour into our own cups, we are not going to be good for anybody else.
And that comes from paying attention to what we may dismiss. And sometimes some of us have been dismissing that for a long time. So we have to think, what is falling apart? And then what do I need to allow my body to tune in, to realize and listen to what it is telling me? So I want to offer you something very simple. You know, it's something that you can practice any time of the day, and it's just taking those slow, deep breaths. And then I want you to ask yourself quietly, you know, even when we think about that intrinsic motivation, what am I feeling right now?
And what do I need more of? Or even what do I need less of? And that's it. It's that simple. And sometimes for us, we have to remind ourselves and count 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Like we're about to take off, you know, like we're an astronaut. But that's what we need to have that intrinsic motivation to be able to be the best of us. And when we think about 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. When we think about taking those deep breaths, there is no pressure to act, no requirement to have that clarity right away. But it's ourselves allowing our bodies to maintain that attention and see it as a sense of urgency.
You know, it means, you know, being curious without judgment, not having that inappropriate guilt. And you don't have to respond to every single, you know, signal immediately, but you just have to stop. And we need to acknowledge it and ask ourselves, what can I do to be the best of me in this moment? So if you are listening to this and you realize, hey, I've been a little disconnected from myself, and I want to know, where can I go from here? I want you to think about, hey, what am I doing that is bringing out the best of me?
What am I doing that's bringing out the worst of me? What am I bringing to the table? When we think about people, places and things to make sure I'm not pouring into others more than they're pouring into me, and then recognizing, hey, this is what I need from you, to be able to be the best in me. Because we are not broken and we didn't miss any moment. But listening to yourself, it becomes a skill, and it's a skill that we need to make sure it becomes a habit. So here is an affirmation that I want to sit with you, and I want you to write this down.
Nothing is wrong with me. Something is trying to be heard, and it's going to be us taking on that accountability and being able to listen to it and allowing it to land. So when you stop forcing clarity and you start paying attention to what your body is trying to tell you, it will find you. So if this resonates with you, I want you to take five quiet minutes today and not have your cell phone, you know, no noise, and just notice what comes up for you in your body. Thank you for listening, and I look forward to seeing you next Wednesday as we focus on ways we can be the best of us with intention and allowing ourselves to move as a marathon, not a sprint, as we transition through this thing called life.
Thank you for listening and hope to see you soon. And to see you soon.
