As I have embarked on my journey to understand and map out the path to total health and wellness. I have come across a factor that I have chosen to overlook on the basis that I didn’t see a correlation. As I get older and more of life is finally understood I see the need for things that my naivety made me overlook. I see why some things are around and why mental health plays such a detrimental role in health care.
Like most probably believe, I had the perception that mental health was only needed for issues concerning certain conditions that you were born with and had no control over. As I learn it is becoming increasing clear to me what is missing from the total health and wellness goal.
We are missing mental health and the ability to truly understand what that means. Take this for example. Our bodies are like a gallon of milk some are half gallons, some are gallons. As we go through life every interaction we encounter that causes us pain adds figurative milk to our jugs. So just take a second and think back through all of your trials and pains in life, the big as well as the small. Then imagine how full your jug must be. That is where mental health comes in. I have often inquired why some people made the statement that everyone should have a therapist. I never understood why until now.
It is because for each interaction that caused us pain or discomfort we really needed to properly process our feelings about those interactions. Just think of a library for a minute. It’s like we needed to take that item off the shelf, go through processing it before we could finally put that thing away. All of the items in your life need to be done this way. We really need to be seeing a therapist from adolescence on just as you would see a doctor but more frequently.
The problem is that as we go through life we fill up our jugs and it begins to spill out in several different ways. Everyone has their own way that they spill, but for all the massive overflow is usually the same which is destruction. Which can often time affect more than just them. Some signs are if you have an overwhelming need to talk about your problems, you blow up on people, if you throw or break stuff out of anger, if you become enraged, if you have self control issues, if you have issues focusing and obtaining your goal for your life. These are all signs that you need to sit down and share with a therapist.
I also want to say that as we embark on adulthood we have to come to grips with the fact that some things we do for ourselves show just how much of an adult we really are. It takes an adult to make the decision to pay attention to getting support and help with those things we know we are not qualified ourselves to do. While some may think, I don’t need one, I just talk to my girlfriend or best friend. Realize that you are adding to their milk jug, but most importantly a therapist is there to help you delve deeper into understanding yourself where a friend unfortunately probably doesn’t have training in the art of personal enlightenment.
If there is one thing I have come to understand about health and wellness, its a team effort. There is no one man solution, meaning you are going to need a team of individuals from several different areas of healthcare to reach your health goals. Like for example right now I have a therapist, an acupuncturist, a nutrition & wellness person-(including myself), a doctor, a personal trainer(my husband), a chiropractor, a kinesiologist, and a spiritual journey. I am sure there are probably some more I could add but understand it will take more than one individual or branch of wellness to achieve your goals.
May you reach all your goals!
Nutritional Curandera 