Caring for your Mental Health
Your mental health is without a doubt, the most important aspect of any type of health.
Your mentality is the powerhouse of your internal and physical body; without proper care, you will never be able to function properly and feel your best.
Everyone’s mentality is different, we all grew up in different environments, and we all perceive the world in different ways. The first step to caring for our mental health is healing our inner child. Most, if not all of us, have all suffered from childhood trauma in some way. Since mine is very personal and not something I feel comfortable exploiting online, I will not be sharing my specific story, but I will give vague examples, to help you understand mental health better. Overtime, you sort of begin to recognize patterns in your behavior, the way you respond and react to situations and people; after recognizing them, you can begin to connect these patterns to past events, that, over the years, grew to have an effect on your present mindset.
For example: I have struggled with emotional attachment, and feared vulnerability. When I was a child, I grew up in a household where emotions were seen as a weakness, and something that could be used against me. So, I learned to numb my emotions, and close off becoming too close to those around me. I molded a mask to hide my true self because I thought it to be weak. Eventually I lost myself, and majority of my life, I was living someone else’s life, not even knowing who I really was. I had no self identity, and no confidence in my ability to be myself. As I grew older, I would always become a different person when my brain recognized a feeling of emotional attachment, that way, no one would ever know who I truly was, and I would never be hurt. I held close to my heart and never let anyone hold it, I told myself I could do everything by myself, and that I never needed another person in my life. I was wrong, and I am mature enough to admit that.
Over the past few years, with the help of therapy, spiritual guidance, and beneficial mindset practices; I’ve finally begun to overcome the struggle, and I am now seeing positive growth. My vulnerability is my strength, and it is necessary to grow and to see the change I wish to create and become.
The next step is acceptance.
Accepting and acknowledging the fact that our minds are not perfect, they are bumpy and messy and it’s is okay to not be okay. We need to have bad days and feel like shit sometimes, otherwise we would take our good days for granted. One thing to remember is: a bad day does not equal a bad life. For example you’re eating a snack, one piece falls on the floor, did the whole container fall out everywhere? Or just one piece? Pick it up, and move on. When we start to take control of our mental health, we will begin to realize that our feelings and thoughts cannot be bottled up inside of us. We need to let our these thoughts in a healthy way, it could be: therapy, talking with trusted family or friends, or if you are someone like me who isn’t always keen to allowing others in that easily; you can write about it. I keep multiple journals on me all the time, I write bout how I am feeling, what I am thinking, and I either write about it in the form of a conversation, journal piece, or poetry. I have always loved writing and poetry so that bit comes quite easily to me. However you can let these out in more ways as well. I will talk more about this at the end of this blog.
After you have accepted your own feelings..
you need to make yourself, your mind, body and soul, a priority.
This is your life, you are the one living it, no one else. It is very easy to forget that we matter too, especially in parents; it is commonly seen for parents to fortet that they need to be taken care of as well. You can put your child first or anyone for that matter, but please leave room for yourself, because if you are the caretaker, without you, there is no them. In order for there to be a you, a you who is strong, healthy, and has the energy to live each day, then you need to care for yourself. Remember this and repeat it each day: “Self care is not selfish.”
I have layed out for you, a list of what gives me peace and makes me happy. Feel free to try out the things I have written, and then I want you to make your own list. Experiement, get into a quiet space, and think. Think about what makes you happy, what is it? Where are you? Why do you like it? Then do it, take time to actually do something you love, not to make money, not to feel productive or worthy, and definitely no for anyone else’s approval. Do it simply because it makes you happy, because that is reason enough.
What makes me happy:
Building puzzles
Painting
Takin walks at sunrise
Drinking a good latte
Halloween
Picking strawberries
Decorating my house with plants and flowers
Driving late at night, with no destination
Watching hockey games
Musicals
Reading my favorite books in the rain, with a hot cup of tea
Watching Anne of Green Gables with my grandmother
Writing poetry
