To be fully human is to experience all the ups and downs in your everyday living. Scientists tells us that we have 27 types of emotions – that is a lot!
In today’s need for fast information and immediate gratification, we have unconsciously conditioned ourselves to expect instant resolutions or gratifications to anything that is pleasant and unpleasant.
We have forgotten how to ‘Be’.
Since our brain’s prime objective is to learn something fast and automate it, you can imagine how stressful it can get when we do not get what we want. It is not a surprise that our perception and idea of what mental wellness “should be” may fall into this illusion that a quick pristine perfect mental wellness is one that is…(fill in the blanks with the first thought / image / picture / feeling your brain triggers into your conscious thought).
When we feel down, sad or low, we can choose to press the breaks on our automated responses, pause and take the time to ask ourselves just what part of us needs some rest or what can be further enhanced / modified to expand our self-connectedness and extend our connectivity with others. In other words, is there anything within us that needs to slow down and is there anything within us that we need to play with and befriend more.
As we begin to choose to reclaim our mental wellness, we can first start by having fun with ourselves (instead of being too serious and harsh) and just do light-hearted stuff with ourselves.
Remember when we were a child and all we know was how to play and just be ourselves in no matter what situations we were in?
As we remember World Mental Health Day and the people who are struggling, let us collectively start reclaiming that aspect of living by owning our mental wellness by just laughing at our uniqueness and just enjoy being ourselves.
Mental wellness is all about being fully human, experiencing the 27 types of emotions as it ebbs and flows into our consciousness. Mental illness is when we take our experiences too seriously and believe that is all we are.
We are bigger than that…
It is time to own back our element of Play and choose mental wellness.
