Prioritizing Your Mental Health: Do Not Allow Your Employer to Break Your Soul
I have been dealing with some extremely negative issues relating to my mental health due to extreme harassment and bullying at my federal job.
I have been a loyal and dedicated employee for 27 years. I literally would wake up and pinch myself because of the amazing job that I had.
I had the privilege to represent my federal employer as a PR Professional and talk about all the wonderful things we do as a company to keep America connected through the power of mail.
I LOVED MY JOB, UNTIL.....
We all know what happened in March of 2020.
Well, in addition to the pandemic, that was when the bullying and harassment began from an acting manager.
So not only was I dealing with the effects of COVID, as we all were, but on top of that my manager made it his mission to make my life miserable.
Yes, I reached out to his boss, but she told me she would have to side with her manager and told me to seek help from our employee assistance program.
The harassment was so ruthless and relentless that I filed a law suit against USPS.
Not only that, I could not eat, sleep and my hair started to fall out.
But in all of this, I continued to show up for work and I continued to do a job well done.
There was a time in 2008 after my mom died that I seriously thought about suicide, but ironically, among other things, it was the power of a postage stamp that kept from ending my life. I wrote about it in, How a Postage Stamp Saved My Life.
I bring this up because I was once again having these same thoughts compounded by the isolation of the pandemic and the daily vitriol that was slung at me.
It was only through prayer and bible reading that I was able to survive.
That hostile treatment went on for almost 2 years.
And through it all, I continued to do a stellar job.
However, I had no idea the toll it took on my mental health.
I'm now suffering from PTSD, but the community here on LinkedIn has been phenomenal.
I was listening to the new single by Beyonce, Break My Soul, and I realize that's what my manager was trying to do to me.
But I refuse to be broken again.
I also know the power of our words that we tell ourselves.
The two most powerful words in the universe is I AM.
When you say I AM followed by a phrase, you are telling your subconscious to go make that happen.
Repeat these words several times a day:
I AM SMART
I AM BEAUTIFUL
I AM INTELLIGENT
I AM TALENTED
I AM JOY
I AM PEACE
I AM LOVE
I AM ENOUGH
I AM CONFIDENT
I AM AMAZING
I AM BRAVE
I AM COURAGEOUS
I AM POWERFUL
I AM RESOURCEFUL
I AM RESILIENT
I AM KIND
I AM COMPASSIONATE
I AM A CHILD OF GOD
I AM BLESSED
I AM HIGHLY FAVORED
I AM WANTED
I AM LOVABLE
I AM BOLD
I AM A CREATOR
I AM A BUSINESS OWNER
I AM GENEROUS
I AM LIMITLESS
I AM UNSTOPPABLE
How do you feel?
Rinse and repeat.
That situation helped me to see that I have overstayed my welcome at that company.
That situation was a wake-up call.
I had been sheltering-in-place at that job for far too long.
What about you?
Have you ever overstayed your welcome?
Nowadays, I prioritize my mental health.
What helps me is coloring.
Coloring books have transformed my life so much so that I created my own inspired by Beyonce's song, Break My Soul.
I hope my story can help anyone who has been bullied or harassed at work.
You are never alone.
Never allow anyone to break your soul.
