Sister's Quarterly

 Do you share personal mental health openly and easily with others?  If a family member notices that you are not getting adequate rest, your weight has changed, things that used to excite you no longer fill that need, you seem worried and more concerned over trivial matters, what is your initial response to them? 

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Let me make a few guesses.

•      I am ok

•      It will work itself out

•      Don't want to bother/worry you

•      What can you do about it

•      It's not your business

•      I deserve this

•      This is my lot

•      How can you help

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Over the past few years during and since COVID, mental health has been in the spotlight.  I venture to say it has always had a spot in underserved and challenged communities.  It has not been noticed or has been noticed and ignored.  Some statistics are estimating that 1 in 4 adults are dealing with some form of mental health - depression, anxiety repression.

 

We are living our lives based on past experiences and are having a tough time moving beyond those thoughts and feelings.  Perhaps we are focusing on our adult children and their lives, or our not-so-adult children and the experiences they are facing; that job that seems to have us stuck; relationships not quite going where we expect. 

 

If the situation has passed, we get to leave it in the past and move forward to what is new and good, not go back to an impossibility attempting to change something that most likely will not happen.  Our responsibility is to evaluate and determine our next steps to bring about the results we desire.

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Another side of mental health is focusing on what's next?  It can be as simple as constantly looking forward to whatever is happening in our lives or the lives of others.  When will we get there, instead of focusing on where we are at the present time?  What we think others will say or do?  Not being able to wait for a thing to happen - rushing can be a definite sign of anxiety.  Mindfulness and living in the present are solutions to this constant rushing.

 

We repress matters that need to be revealed.  We are like balloons with too much air.  Eventually we have to explode.  Everything is not confidential if it is detrimental to our well-being.  It may have been that molestation where you were sworn to secrecy.  That could have been 15-30 years ago.  Imagine what it feels like being covered for all these years.  Imagine what it is doing to you.  It's time to let it go.  Let out all the air. Release it.

 

Why do we avoid getting the support we need to move forward into a healthier frame of mind?  Why are we hesitant?  Why are we waiting?  Fear, self-worth, love and acceptance, boundaries, trust and respect, they all play major roles in our continued mental health evolving.

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Overcoming these stigmas can take time and practice.  We must position ourselves in communities of understanding and love.  Sometimes that looks like trusted professional support.  Other times, it may be as simple as having someone to lean on or someone who has no judgment, but open heart and ears.  We get to realize we are our most important asset and understanding that can be the initial step in focusing on our mental health.  Choosing ourselves over others is a big step toward this goal.  This creates peace as we get to know ourselves as NEW and IMPROVED.

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The necessary and essential support is available to us.  We must make the decision to make the choice to be pro-active.  Our families, friends, and others are depending on us.  They want to have a mentally healthy stable community.  If we have survived all that we have survived for nearly 400 years, mental health has a space in our lives.  We are here to thrive, and we can get started by focusing on the strength of community to bring about mentally healthy and sound creation of mind, body, and soul for our present and future.

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Let's make it work!

 

Angela Mozelle, staff writer,

Life Coach

angela@newbeginningstoday.com