“Eat your vegetables! Exercise! Have a good night’s rest! Are mental and physical health equally important?
Mental health refers to our psychological, social, and emotional well-being. It influences how we think and feel. It influences how we deal with stress and make decisions. It is essential to have a healthy mental outlook at all ages, from childhood to adolescence and into adulthood. We often ignore our feelings and don’t believe this. It was only recently that I began to see the full impact of mental health. Let’s begin with my earliest memories. My mom took my sister and I to the local drive-thru safari when we were five years old. While this sounds like fun for most children, it wasn’t what my mom intended. In fact, the exact opposite happened. While it was great to see the exotic animals at a distance, I became terrified when the giraffe approached my car’s window. This moment has been with me my entire life. I laugh at jokes and receive occasional gifts that are giraffe-themed. This is just one example of the anxiety I experienced. As you might expect, my anxiety was not something I knew how to handle. I became more aware of my anxiety as I got older.
It was confusing to be anxious about a situation you don’t have to fear. Although I knew that giraffes were not cruel and that my mom would never let anything happen to us, I still felt fear. I only discovered how anxiety works and how to overcome it recently. Fear had taken control of my mind and controlled my thoughts and actions. It was an issue that affected my daily life. I needed to learn how to manage it. Although anxiety is something that I will always struggle with, it is something you must practice and it takes time. My mom, who was 7 years old, had decided to be a therapist for mental health. It helped me see things in a different way and helped me understand who I was. While we are not a foster care home, we do sometimes accept children who need a place to live temporarily when their own homes are no longer available. The experiences of these people taught me gratitude. My mom was a therapist, which helped me to be grateful and also helped me understand why I did what I did. I don’t mean that everyone is able to see how others react, but they aren’t able to understand why.
Mental health is a key component of all this. As I mentioned before, mental well-being includes our psychological, emotional, and social well being. It influences how we think and feel. It determines how we manage stress, and what choices we make. Everything we have experienced is the foundation for who we are, and how we respond to different situations. The why is behind the what. To make the best decisions, it is important to take care of your mental health.
