Plant Trees
By Gary Siebert, OKDHS volunteer chaplain

I blurted out the first words that popped into my mind, “Plant trees!” This was in response to a question the therapist asked me regarding what I would do if I could do anything I wanted. I was meeting with him over lunch at the insistence of a mutual friend. He looked at me kind of funny, cocked his head sideways and said, “Okay, what do you mean by that?”

What I meant was that I felt tired beyond belief and planting tree seedlings and watching them grow was the one thing I loved to do to relax. What I meant was that I felt like I was simultaneously about to explode from the inside out and be crushed from the outside in and needed to be distracted from the feelings of sadness that I could not relate to any of the successes I was experiencing in my family life or pastoral ministry. What I meant was that I was burned out by helping others, depressed and in a spiritual malaise that had been brought on by a series of doubts regarding my faith commitments and I just wanted to run away from it all to do something that wouldn’t require me to think so much. 

With the therapist’s help, my friend’s support and my doctor’s commitment to my overall health, I was finally able to overcome this difficult time of my life. Yes, I even planted some trees in the process. I actually enrolled in some naturalist courses and got involved as a volunteer educator with the National Arbor Day Foundation. “Plant trees!” wasn’t the final, or only, answer, but it was a start.

If you find yourself facing a similar sadness, burn out, depression, or other stress, I encourage you to find something you enjoy doing and pursue it to distraction, talk to a counselor, lean on a friend and meet with your doctor.

An excellent resource is our Employee Assistance Program. This benefit is free and available to all OKDHS employees. It includes six counseling visits for the employee and an additional six free visits per each family member living in the home. It’s absolutely confidential and the benefit starts over again each year. Help is available for individual concerns, family and marital issues, work related problems, financial issues and legal concerns. In Oklahoma City, you can call (405) 947-2688 and outside the Oklahoma City metro, you can call toll free at 800-677-2729. These are the direct numbers to Integris Corporate Assistance, the OKDHS EAP supplier. You can also access the OKDHS volunteer chaplains page on Your InfoNet and contact one of your OKDHS volunteer chaplains for support.   

Editor's Note: Siebert's last day with OKDHS was Sept. 30. As he leaves the agency to pursue new endeavors, we wish him the best and extend our appreciation for his service as a volunteer chaplain.