Mental Wellness Cindy

Gratitude is the quality of being thankful, a readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. An attitude of gratitude means making it a habit to express thankfulness and appreciation in all parts of your life on a regular basis for both the big and the small things alike. By practising gratitude regularly you will be living in a state of positivity. And by living this way you will attract more positive things into your life as per the principles of the law of attraction. We sometimes forget how fortunate we are to live in societies that have all the resources we need available to us easily. We forget there people less fortunate than ourselves. Take time today to give thanks for all the things you are grateful for. Your life, your health, your children, your job, the roof over your head, food and money. I also like to give thanks for the bad experiences I have had in my life as well, as they have shaped me into the strong woman I am today. When you become positive the world is your oyster. We have more to be grateful for than we know. When you take time out to be grateful and this more positive you will attract more happiness into your life.

Escapism is the tendency to seek distractions and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy. It can also be used as a term to define the actions people take to help relieve persistent feelings of depression or general sadness. In small managed doses with activities that do cause a risk to yourself or others I believe it can be helpful to help recharge one self. Stay safe but take timeout for yourself regularly to do the things that you enjoy.

It is very important to join the conversation about mental health. Most importantly it’s imperative that we all speak up when our mental health is affected. Your mental health could be affected by the things people around you do, or by the situ is you are living in. If people around you are doing or saying things that affect you speak up. If you feel they will understand and try to change their actions, speak directly to them. However if you don’t feel safe doing so then, speak to a friend, your doctor or a mental health professional who will be able to help you. As a society we need to change our attitude towards mental health and people with mental health issues. Social services needs to stop demonising parent with mental health issues. Instead they should support them so their children will have better outcomes. Employers need to look after the mental health of their employees without penalising them. As friends and family we need to take the time to ask each other how we are feeling and be prepared to help. We all need to STOP the stigma around mental health because it will save a lot of lives, currently lost because people feel alone and unable to speak up.

The first step to dealing with uncertainty is to accept that we can’t control everything, there is only so much you can do right now that makes you human. Things will unfold soon enough. Then imagine the best: Being humans we try to spare ourselves disappointment by thinking through how things could go wrong. However research in cognitive behavioural therapy shows that people tend to overestimate the risk and negative consequences that may result from a situation. That leads to a lot of anxiety or worse, sets us up for failure. When we start something by worrying about how it’s going to turn out it can be a self fulfilling prophecy. What we need to do instead is imagine the best possible scenario. When you do this you will feel more confident about where you are going. In turn you will feel calmer and clearer about where you are now. Which will help with decision making and boost the odds of success. We also need to reflect and remember that we have faced uncertainty before. The psychological concept of “hindsight bias” says that we tend to create the illusion that everything in our past was certain, when in reality it was once uncertain. Instead take time to think and reflect on what helped us before. Fear of the unknown can also trigger the fight or flight mechanisms in our bodies which can sometimes paralyse us. Instead remember to keep moving. Finally see the possibilities because the reality is the future has not yet been written it’s still to play for. Que Sera Sera. Whatever will be, Will be!!