Focusing on mental health rather than mental illness.
In a society where mental illness issues seem to be on the rise, focusing on mental health is a critical step in making our lives healthier and happier. And to do this, it is really important to remember that what we focus on persists. In my opinion, the problem with most of the current approaches to mental health is that we have this tendency to focus on all the bad stuff that happened and ignore all the good stuff. But when we do that, we give away our power and foster a victim mentality that makes things worse.
I believe that if we really want to make progress with things like depression, the key lies in changing our internal beliefs and how we see ourselves and the world around us. We need to start by focusing on mental health rather than on mental illness, and the key to achieving that lies in looking within because what we seek is always within. All the answers, all the direction and all the happiness we could ever hope to ask for is already there inside. What’s more, we can only see on the outside what we have already found within. So if we want to increase our mental health and resiliency, we must stop fixating on what we don’t want and start focusing on what it is we do want. And then we need to find it inside of us before we can see it anywhere else.
But how can we accomplish this, particularly when in the grip of a mental illness? We do it incrementally, by training ourselves to become aware of our moods. We learn the nuances of how our own feelings work, and how our moods – the good and the bad – feed off each other. We learn to understand that allowing ourselves to stay in a bad-feeling mood only leads to increasingly worse-feeling moods and eventually tips us into that spiral of darkness that leads to things like full-blown depression. And we learn that something as simple as a tiny thought change can trigger a scaffolding process that will, sooner rather than later, shift our moods for the better. In focusing on mental health, we learn that we have all the power to change our minds and our lives, and that we’ve had that power all along.
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[powerpress]
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Thank you for this Nathalie! I have always wondered about this topic related to LOA. Abraham says that depression is the result of us expanding and not meeting that expansion. I can so relate to this when it comes to me and those who I love who do not love themselves. When you love someone who does not love himself, you hurt even more than that person, because you see their greatness and who they really are (soulmates in this case) but they are blind to it and no matter how much you pound it into them or try to, they need to see it for themselves.
It may be tough to be a member of society and not consider what others think of us, yet this is what we need to do to live deliberately. No matter what mistakes we make or opportunities we do not take at a particular time, we need to stop comparing ourselves to others and just focus on our own path, because the others are irrelevant, all that matters is our alignment.
I have cried oceans, not rivers, for myself and others, but now that I understand that it does not matter, I am much more stoic about this life thing and more relaxed about it, having faith that the universe takes care of all and nothing can harm me, esp other people.
It is very hard to watch someone else suffer when you know there’s another way. Especially when you’ve been through that same kind of suffering yourself. If it helps, remind yourself that what you went through was exactly what you needed to get yourself to where you are now. And consider that what the other is going through may be exactly what they need to further their own journey. Everyone chooses their own path; we need to let others do that in their own way, in their own time, and we can’t force them to understand something that they’re just not ready for. This doesn’t mean that we can’t offer love and support and assistance whenever we can. But it’s important to understand that we can’t shift someone else’s energy or belief systems for them — that kind of thing can only be accomplished from within, and only when the person is ready for it.
It is hard to avoid comparing ourselves to others sometimes. But you’re right — the only journey that matters is our own. That’s the only one we have any control over. We can be influenced by others, of course, but only when we allow it. This is why these concepts of surrounding ourselves with people who will inspire and uplift us is so important, because in doing so, we decided who we allow to influence us and how.