Author. Reader. Creative.

Mental Health is Important

Have you ever taken a moment to really think about what keeps you healthy? You ingest foods that keep your body healthy. You take care of your skin and your hair. You want to look your best at all times. You work years at it. To maintain it. To appear the way you want others to see you. But, what about your mental health? What about your emotional health? What do you do to keep these areas of yourself well?

I used to think if you felt healthy, then everything else didn’t really matter. But now? I realize you can’t truly be healthy if you ignore your mental and emotional health. Just because your “feel” healthy doesn’t mean you are.

Be it as it may, your mental and emotional health are even more important than physical health because they tend to play a role in that area as well.

I’m not trying to tell you how to live your life. These are just suggestions and what has helped me.

I tend to unplug from the world. Take time to just be with myself. To assess what I’m feeling and thinking, and work toward achieving a balance within. To assure I’m working toward being the most healthy me I can be.

Most often I escape into my writing. It allows me to put my emotions out on paper. Into a story and push some other world toward some problem or solution I have nothing to do with, per se.

I also tend to dive deep into a book. If I can take a few hours or a few days and just read, it is one of the best feelings. Sometimes messages in the book help me figure out why I’m feeling the way that I do. I might empathise with a character and it gives me some deeper understanding of myself. I might just really enjoy the book and it allows my mind to clear and focus solely on the words on the page.

Some people cook, do yoga, paint, hike, read, write, play videos games, have sex, bake, go swimming and, well the list is endless. But these activities tend help to clear the mind or at least allow the mind to attempt to get a better understanding of what is making it feel unhealthy. 

In our current world, it is even more important to take care of your mental and emotional health. There are still some people who are under stay at home orders, who have lost their jobs, who are trying to juggle their significant others, kids and career, and all this can cause a strain on all aspects of your health. But especially your mental and emotional health.

Take a moment to find what helps you to escape and to think. Find what allows your brain and heart rest. It will help your health and you will feel better overall.

But seriously, don’t slack on the physical either. I mean, that messes with your head just as much.

Find what makes you happy and stick with it. Your mental and emotional health are beyond essential to an overall healthy life.