Mental Health revisited

Having a mental breakdown does not mean you are weak.. it means you have been too strong for too long.

I think my friends and family are pretty ‘normal’ in a world where normal is anything but.

We have easy and tough times, and do our best to find the good in each other and the world.   We try to find the most interesting roads we can, having fun when the opportunity arises and helping each other get over the rough parts.

We try to be successful.. whatever that is. 

For the most part we have it pretty easy, and life is good.  

But there are some hiccups. 

I think of my own ‘inner circle’ and those that remind us that while it is important to take care of our bodies: eat right, exercise.. it is also important to take care of our own, and each other’s mental health.  

But we aren’t really a 9-5 lot.  I don’t actually know anyone that really works that way.  Life is pretty much 24/7. 

And that is why when I saw this little saying posted on Facebook a while back, I thought how perfectly it fit so many of us. 

And I wondered why we don’t talk about mental health a whole lot more. 

Maybe it is the guilt: that feeling that we have failed somehow. 

Or maybe it is because we don’t understand it ourselves..

When I was in Cairns, flying back and forth to Mornington Island, I shut down.  One Monday morning I found myself unable to get out of bed.  A neighbor helped me out and a couple of weeks later I was working as a cashier in the desert.

I still don’t know what happened. But I am more careful with myself these days.. I treat myself gently and so far, have not overstayed in any stressful situation.  I manage to take lots of time-outs and do things I know help me grow.  I no longer force myself to ‘man-up’ or own up to my responsibilities.  I treat myself like I think others should be treated. 

I also started blogging, and even wrote about the experience.  I think I called it Menopause.. but it was a break down.  It was a big flashing red light from my body to quit pushing! 

I got back on my feet by taking baby steps.. one hour, one day, one week at a time. 

I have since found out that the experience is a common one.. it is one of those things that it seems everyone forgot to tell us about, like it hurts to have a baby.  Not everyone breaks, but a lot of us do. 

Those that take their job seriously, take their responsibilities seriously: really seriously and those of us to whom a job is not 9-5, but 24/7 and to whom life is a such a great adventure that it take all of our focus all the time .. we break now and then.

Having a mental breakdown does not mean you are weak, it means you have been too strong for too long. 

So, heed the message and make some changes.  You won’t come together in exactly the same way, but it will get easier.  When things get broken they are never exactly the same, sometimes they are even better, and almost always they are stronger. 

Ain’t life grand?!