Community Connection Column April 6, 2023

Things to celebrate…

Since a universal sarcasm font hasn’t yet been developed (seriously, this really needs to be a thing) please note the tone of satire in this next statement: today, we are simply celebrating that you haven’t thrown in the towel, packed up your belongings, and moved south. With the never-ending winter, we know you have options. You certainly don’t have to live here. But we’re sure glad that you do. That’s it. Well done, everyone. This, too, shall pass. Eventually, right?

News to know…

Through our local Dickey County Healthy Community Coalition, we invite everyone in the community to participate in the upcoming Mental Health First Aid Training sessions being held at Growing Small Towns. In these training sessions, participants will learn how to better identify, respond to, and support mental health in our community. The courses provide an in-depth set of skills and continuing education credits are available if needed. These are two separate learning opportunities; the Mental Health First Aid training on April 12th is for everyone and focuses on supporting all ages. The second session on April 13th is the same overall curriculum but directed towards supporting our youth, ages 12-18. Both sessions will be from 10 am to 3 pm. Both opportunities are free to attend but do require pre-registration. Call the Dickey County Public Health District at 701.349.4348 to enroll. 

Ideas to spread…

We’ve all heard and know the general value of focusing on what we can control in a situation; it does practically no good to fuss over things out of our control. But, what if we can actually control a lot more than we tend to think? What if we’re missing opportunities to make things better because we’ve convinced ourselves that everything is out of our control? This can often be heard as “Oh well…it is what it is…” followed by a big shoulder shrug. Can’t you just hear the apathy in that? Now, sure. There are times when that is the answer; sometimes, we have to cry “uncle” and stop trying to push issues/people that won’t budge. If we continue to ram our heads into a brick wall, we can’t be confused as to why our head’s bleeding. Thankfully, in any given situation, we have things we can control; we always can control our thoughts, feelings, words, and actions. No, the other person and their behavior are not factors within your control. What if we responded differently to that same person? What if we monitored our tone of voice, carefully considered our body language, and even spoke more softly than typical? Could that yield a different result? There’s no way to know with certainty. But today, we encourage you to think about what is within your control. Then? Do your best.

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