Chaplain’s New Year Chatty

Dear all

I hope you all had a great Christmas and I wish you the very best for the coming new year.

A year ago the first vaccination jags were being administered and now were are being encouraged to have our boosters (3^rd jag). The current variant is spreading very quickly, it seems to me that those who have chosen not to have any or very few of the jags are the ones that need hospital treatment. For your own wellbeing and the safety of those around you, can I suggest that it is better for you to be full vaccinated than leave it to chance.

At the start of the year I usually encourage people to think about their plans which they may have for the coming year. To do that we usually compare what we want to do, with the things we have enjoyed in previous years and by incorporating a mixture of work, rest and play we formulate our plans going forward. They call this the “Work / Life balance”. Too much or too little of one or the other can cause our stress levels to rise.

If there has been one thing the last two years has shown us is that it is not that easy to plan that far ahead and we have had to be quite adaptable when change comes along. This, as we know, has happened quite frequently! It is this gift of adaptability that has kept our wellbeing on an even keel. However, it is when we find the pressure of change has moved outside the scope of our control that our stress levels start to rise and we can lose our confidence and our energy levels start to fall. It all becomes too much! If we are honest with ourselves, we have all been there at one point or another.

Some of us are able to share with others, and apply things we have learned from previous situations to regain a measure of control, which has improved our confidence and we have seen our energy levels rise. That is great, and I encourage you to continue doing these things. But a few of us may not be aware that we can enjoy a measure of recovery when we feel totally out of control, our confidence drained and our energy levels have depleted not to be able do anything about our situation. If this is on-going we have moved from being stressed to being depressed. We try and cover it up and make it seem everything is ok. This certainly doesn’t help our situation or our low moods.

So what can we do in such a situation? First of all I want to say, it is ok not to be ok. You are not on your own. Approximately one in four of the population experience similar situations. So if we have 160 people at the match then using that calculation it suggests that on average there are going to be 40 others in a similar situation as you! There is certainly no shame to have poor mental health, as there is no shame in being in poor physical health. It is an illness. If your physical health is not good, you would seek help and support from a person(s) who can assist you. Likewise, there is also hope of help if you are experiencing poor mental health.

Many clubs, including the Star, have seen the value of appointing a Chaplain to work alongside the Committee, Management, Players and Supporters in supporting and making people aware of Wellbeing issues that may have been supressed or ignored in previous years. Please feel free to contact me if you want to talk about such issues. Make this year the best yet!

Bots Best wishes for 2022

Steve

Club Chaplain