Daily Supports

Daily Supports

Support takes many different forms.  Support can be physical, practical, or emotional. To sum up the term support, support is any type of assistance.  Support can come from a thing, person, or animal. In my life I receive multiple forms of support from multiple sources daily.  

All types of support are important for functioning, but I believe emotional support is the most important. In my daily life, I receive emotional support from my husband, family and friends.  I categorize emotional support as any help given toward my emotions.  For example, if I am angry, someone from my emotional support group will demonstrate support by listening to me vent, giving me advice, or distracting me with a fun activity. When I am upset, they give me a hug, offer me a shoulder to cry on, or give a listening ear.  People from my support group emotionally support me by building up my self-esteem.  They focus on my positive attributes with kind words and physical affection.  For example, my husband will give me a kiss and tell me I look nice in the morning prior to going to work or my friends will tell me I have good ideas and advice in conversation.  I agree with the saying, “all you need is love”.  Having people on your side as your daily cheerleaders and people you trust to help you get through the difficult times are priceless.  My emotional support gives me a sense of purpose in life. Without a sense of purpose or direction, I would question my daily actions and decisions.  I believe everyone has a purpose in life and the purpose is driven by emotion. Without emotion, what is the point of doing anything? 

Practical support is important for convenience and practical uses. In my daily life I have a lot of practical support, whether is at my home, work, or school. I have a car that helps me get from place to place.  At work I have pens, paper, notepads, file folders, desk, chairs, etc. to help complete tasks in order for the center to run.  My computer gives me practical support to go to school at an online university.   I have multiple appliances within my house that support my daily living functions.  For example, a stove top to cook with, a refrigerator to keep my food cold, a washer and drier to clean my clothes, a shower to stay clean, lights to see, and many more. Although I am extremely grateful for all of my daily practical support, it is feasible to live without the practical support.  During the Stone Age, people lived without the practical support I previously listed. They relied on natural resources for practical support.  During this era, I would have to change my lifestyle completely and live extremely minimalistic in order to function only on natural resources. Practical support is only necessary to live a certain lifestyle not to live. 

I view physical support as support that helps me physically.  Food, water and shelter are needed to physically support me daily.  If I do not eat, drink water, or have shelter for protection I will die.  

A challenge I may face in my daily life could be my car breaking down on my way to work.  I would need support from all areas of my life. I would need emotional support from my friends and family.  I may be frustrated or upset with the situation I was put in and I would rely on my emotional support group to keep me calm and get me through the process.  I would also need emotional support from my co-workers/families when arriving to work.  They would need to support me and be understanding of the situation.  I would need physical help as well.  I would either need someone to pick me up physically and drive me to work or a source of public transportation.  Some practical support I would need is from a cell phone to call my center to let them know why I have not arrived to work, to call a tow truck service to remove me car, to call someone to come pick me up and take me to my destination.   When I take a step back to reflect on all of the different types of support I receive daily it is overwhelming.  I rely on many people and many things to get me through my day.