Your mental health is everything. October 3-9 is Mental Health Awareness Week and Mental Health Day is October 10th.
I like to highlight it at this time because this is a subject that affects all of us. All of us living in this world must be aware of and take care of our mental health- not one person is immune from the effects of living in this world.
Mental health and well being are intricately intertwined. Taking care of yourself mind, body, spirit and soul is the foundation of living your best life. This is a job to be taken seriously- not delegated to when you have time or after you have taken care of everyone else.
The world is a many times challenging place to live and so we all need to take responsibility for taking care of our needs.
I wrote a whole series in April of this year on well being and I encourage you to refer back to those for some empowering thoughts about the pillars of well being.
Today I want to share a few of the tried and true things that have helped me to keep my mental health in a good place most of the time! You have heard them before, so take note of how you are doing with these in your life right now.
-Most importantly, it matters what you put in your head- what are you consuming? What are you reading, watching and listening to and how are they adding to your mental strength?
–It matters who you spend time with and allow to influence you- are they good for you?
–It matters how much rest and how much activity you are getting. Is it enough?
–It matters that you always have something to look forward to! What are you excited about right now? If you don’t have something, stop right now and plan something- big or small- put it into your schedule- right now!
–It matters how you think. If you find yourself thinking negatively about things- challenge yourself to find one thing that might be good about it- whatever it is.
All of these things have the potential to help you to live a more joyful life.
Lastly, learn to cultivate or expand the strength of hope in yourself. Hope is not a strategy on it’s own, but it is the place that the strategy has to start. Without belief that something can be good, that something can work- where would we be? We wouldn’t even try. Hope is fuel for mental health.
Mental wealth means that you are in strong place to work, focus, dig in, enjoy, be emotionally strong and clear. This is important because this is the place from which you create the life you want to live. Do a mental health/mental wealth check in with yourself today. Ask for help, if necessary- those who ask for help and have support and almost always going to be stronger and move forward faster toward a better life, a great life, than those who don’t.
You deserve to live the greatest life possible.