Mental Wellness is Key

Mental Wellness is Key-by Sal Celly

Good afternoon, everyone. This is Sal Celly. Hope you all are doing well. It’s a very cold day in Austin today. Today, I wanted to write about a very important topic-, the importance of mental health wellness. This is a critical topic-one that has been taboo for a long time, and one that people don’t talk about, because of the stigma, or the feeling of being ashamed, it has traditionally brought.

But mental health just like physical health is so critical, because it is part of the foundation, and a firm foundation upon which everything else is built. Our life has many dimensions, mental health is one of them, physical health is the other, spiritual health is the third, financial health is the fourth, relationships is the fifth and productivity and effectiveness is the sixth. While some of these aspects, may be at different stages of development, it is critical that they are all functioning in sync and in a balanced way, because only then is our life going to be balanced. If any of these areas is underdeveloped, or out of sync with the others, it is going to cause stress and anxiety and pressure and a lack of  overall and holistic wellbeing.

The first step is to know where you are today, and what is your starting point. Once you know your starting point, then you can determine the areas which are your strengths and the areas of opportunity, where you need to develop. How do you find your starting point ? You can take the DISC assessment and identify where you are today. Once you have done that, we can help you improve in the areas that you need improvement on. If you’re already strong mentally, and you are balanced, then you don’t have to invest to improve there. You just have to maintain that strength. On the other hand, if your faith and your spirituality is suboptimal, you invest there.  The first critical step in this process is for you to identify the key areas of growth.

Coming back to the topic of mental health, what exactly does  mental health wellness mean? Mike Tyson had a very important and famous saying- everybody has a plan till you get punched in the face. So when things are going well, you have a good job, you’re doing well at work, everything is good at home, your relationship with your spouse is good, your family relationships are good, and you’re having a balance, everything is fine, and your mental health is good. However, we all know that’s not going to last forever. There are going to be times when storms come into our lives. And those storms cause an imbalance and cause misalignment in any or all of these areas. When that happens, we start feeling pressured, depressed, anxious, nervous, and stressed. And we feel that we need to isolate.

Mental health can have many different dimensions. Some of these dimensions are much worse than others. At a minimum, you can feel lethargic, have a lack of interest, be physically weak, and emotionally down. You may feel that you no longer have interest in the things that you used to be interested in. That can be a simple symptom of poor mental health. At an extreme,  if left unchecked, it can result in much more extreme symptoms and behaviors. People can lose a lot of weight because they are not eating properly, they are not sleeping properly, they may become very short tempered, they may have very little patience, they may blow off the fuse very quickly, they may start screaming and shouting, and they may interact poorly with others, if at all.

I remember when I was down, I had all these symptoms. It was as though,  I had become a different person. Normally, I’m very outgoing, I’m confident and I’m an extrovert. I like to do things, drive myself and others, and I like to get things done and completed. But when you’re depressed or anxious, or stressed or nervous, all that changes- just getting out of bed becomes a huge chore. Going to sleep becomes very difficult. Eating becomes difficult. Just going and doing the normal things that you take for granted, getting up, brushing your teeth, going to the bathroom, taking a shower, getting ready, going for a walk, working, being productive, all of that starts taking a toll. Routine, mundane tasks become a big obstacle, that prevent you from moving forward and keep you frozen.

I know that at a point in my life, I never wanted to even get out of bed, or do anything. And that happens to a lot of people. What makes it worse, is that you don’t talk about it with others. You may try to get help by going and talking to a counselor or a psychologist or a psychiatrist. At times, you may even be going and doing outpatient therapy or inpatient therapy. While all those things can help, what is critical is that you recognize and you realize that one, you are not alone in this. Number two, there is help out there. And most importantly, number three, this too shall pass. Nothing lasts forever. And if you have the faith and you recognize that you are going through a problem, then you can get the help that you need. It is not a quick fix, and it is not a short term fix. But you really need to introspect and figure out what is causing the problem and get to the root cause of it.

Many times we treat the symptoms and not the actual issue at hand. The issue could be a deep rooted complex that you had when you were young, or a trauma that happened in the past, or a fear that you had or an unresolved relationship or a burden that you have been carrying, or something that you have been hiding for years and years. Alternatively, it may be a much simpler reason,  where you are doing too much, and you’re taking on too much of stress and too much of workload. If that’s the case, you need to recognize that and you need to take corrective action.

Nothing changes if nothing changes. So the first step is to figure out what is out of alignment and get it back in alignment. That could mean a small tweak or it could mean a huge change in your life. And that takes time. The bottom line is -mental health is critical to your success and your family success and your relationships and your productivity and your effectiveness and to lead a balanced, rewarding and fulfilled life. In the next article, we will delve into some of the ways you can get your mental health back in order. This is Sal Celly.  Thank you for reading this blog. This is part one of the importance of mental health wellness. The next parts on this topic will come soon. In case of any questions or feedback, please send an email to info@maximizeu.life