The True Meaning of Mental Health
Vulnerability, fulfillment, and the full range of emotions
These days, the term “mental health” can be wrongly defined by a lot of people.
Mental health is supposed to be about feeling the right emotion at the appropriate time.
However, many take mental health to mean happiness.
While it is good to be happy, there is a difference between true joy and toxic optimism — the same way there is a difference between being tired and feeling sad.
Here is my advice from what I’ve learned through the years about staying content by feeling, not suppressing, my emotions.
Be vulnerable
More times than not, the word “vulnerable” is taken to mean “weak”.
However, being vulnerable is far from that.
Actually letting your guard down and being susceptible to raw emotion takes courage, and a lot of it.
This is especially helpful in relationships with others! Yes, you may get hurt, but it is always worth it to try and get hurt rather than not try and stay the same.
Learn from your good and bad experiences. See what the red flags were and avoid them in the future. You will get everything out of it, I promise.
Find what nurtures your soul
One may feel fulfilled when they find a loving spouse. Someone else may feel fulfilled when they do service to others. Perhaps fulfillment comes from adopting a cat!
My point is that we are all different people with different tastes, making it tough to see what route truly leads to fulfillment.
Thanks to Google, it is so easy to get an immediate answer to most questions, and I think that’s why finding what you want in life (and how to get it) is all the more difficult.
My advice — live. If you search too much for satisfaction, you may just overlook it.
The best way to find what you love is by putting energy into things, whether it's your job, a hobby, or a relationship. You may just find that you have already found what you were looking for, and just didn’t know it.
Don’t be afraid of what others think
This one is much easier said than done.
It’s true, though; we are only here once, and we can’t let fear control our lives. We won’t get anything done otherwise.
This may just be me, but I love watching people going out of the norm to be themselves. Others may think they’re weird, but thoughts like those could easily be invoked by fear.
I draw inspiration from unique people that are themselves and enjoying it. They make me want to find and be myself as well!
Happiness
Happiness seems to be everyone’s goal in life, and for good reasons.
As of right now, I am content with where I am in life. Not necessarily happy, but definitely better than how I felt before.
I’ve had experiences with people that want happiness badly, but don’t know how to get it. Maybe they are afraid of being vulnerable, or perhaps don’t realize that mindset plays a huge role.
Either way, they pretend that everything is fine when everything certainly is not fine. They may act like the simple act of saying “it isn’t ok” is a crime, or perhaps make a comment about how you need to lighten up whenever you are feeling sad.
This can have a big effect on both the toxic individual and the people around them. Let me tell you, that stuff builds and comes crashing down during your lowest points.
It is so so so so incredibly important to let others feel whatever emotion they are feeling. That includes yourself, too!
Living a good life doesn’t mean being happy all the time. It means feeling your emotions and learning from experiences.
We have all these emotions for a reason! Don’t be afraid to feel sad every once in a while; we aren’t built to be indestructible, we are built to feel both the good and bad.
I would like like to reiterate that this is not rock-solid advice from a certified psychologist. This is what I’ve learned from my experience with these subjects.
If you have any additional advice, leave a response!
Thank you for reading!
