Mental Health Awareness Month

Not only is May Lyme Disease Awareness month, but it’s also Mental Health Awareness Month. 

It took me well into adulthood before I decided to address my own Mental Health.  And I have found that it’s a journey with no finish line, but it’s a journey that doesn’t need to be walked alone.  Through counseling, support groups, and mentors, I feel better about myself and my own mental health currently than I really ever have in life.  We are all products of the good and bad experiences of life, and especially childhood, and we are all unique in that experience, but so much can be shard and learned from and understood by and with others once we make the choice to open up, ask for help, and then accept the help. 

I had lunch with my Pastor recently, and he shared a conversation that he had with a woman who was considering joining our church, but had some serious reservations.  “None of you people are real.  Your lives are all good and put-together and wonderful,” she shared to him. 

I couldn’t help but immediately smile…I certainly know that MY life isn’t put-together and wonderful all the time!  I do believe my life is ‘good’, but that’s a choice of my mindset.  But considering I regularly attend that church, perhaps this woman saw me there and thought that I was one of those people she didn’t think was ‘real.’  Boy did I fool her!

I recently read the following on a post by “Bigger Than The Trail”, which is a non-profit that advocates for Mental Health through free counseling and other events:

We all strive to be “good enough.” Good enough for our parents, our spouses, our jobs, our friends. But what does that really mean? And is it possible to ever feel like we’re truly good enough?

The answer is that it depends on our perspective. If we’re constantly comparing ourselves to others and trying to meet some arbitrary standard, then we’ll likely never feel good enough.

On the other hand, if we focus on doing what makes us happy and living up to our own standards, then we’re much more likely to feel good about ourselves.

After all, in the end people will judge us anyway – so we might as well do what makes us happy.
So the next time you find yourself questioning whether you’re good enough, remember that the only opinion that really matters is your own. And as long as you’re happy with yourself, that’s all that counts.

Let me tell you—yes YOU—that you are enough!  I also remind myself of this regularly throughout the day.  I’m enough, and I’m worth the effort to keep improving!

So much of the muscle and joint pain that I try to help people with as a chiropractor has a strong origin and component of mental stress and struggles, and perhaps poor ‘coping mechanisms’ that lead to alcohol, drug, and other chemical abuse.  I try to address all of those with my patients—address the whole of the person—and without that the positive results just don’t happen as quickly.  

So, if you’ve been battling something inside…remember that you’re enough, and you’re not alone.  Take a step this month and reach out.  You’re worth it.