Mental Health awareness can be a positive thing, too many times I hear people insinuating that mental health awareness is a sign of weakness and that we should not pass any heed on how life makes us feel. For instance, I’ve heard people say about someone else who portrays he/she is going through a difficult time ‘ah they’re gone soft, he needs to toughen up’

Well for me, I listen to my body and mind when it starts telling me, ‘Hey you. It is time to give me a rest and stop overloading me with all these thoughts and deadlines to hit.’ 

For the equestrians reading this, you may resonate with the following analogy.

Think of your mind like a wheelbarrow. Now you have a job to do which involves filling the wheelbarrow with enough hay for four horses, but here is where the problem lies, the wheelbarrow only holds enough for two horses. Yes, there will be people that say that may be true but I can pack it up so high that I can fit all the hay that I need for the four horses.  Then there are others that say it  is ok, I will make two trips and fill it with the right amount. While some people will start to feel like they are failing as they have to make the 2 trips, and start to think of the time they are wasting. They question why can’t they pack it high enough with the hay to make it in one run like others can.

Now replace the wheel barrow with your mind and replace the hay with your thoughts and replace the horses with your feelings. 

This is your mind, your thoughts and your feelings. STOP and LISTEN to them. Stop comparing yourself to how others do it, they are not you and you are not them. This is your mind, your body and you are the controller of it. 

So where am I going with all this? Why did I start with saying Mental Health Awareness can be a positive thing? If we LISTEN to our own mind and body and recognise when they are telling us, HAY I need you to slow down and BE OK with making the two trips.

For example, if you are feeling overwhelmed carrying out an activity that involves a large number of tasks, break it down into steps, as this will make the overall activity seem a lot easier. You’re probably reading this and saying sure that is simple, that is great do it then. 

I am offering you my help if there is an activity that overwhelms you like preparing for a show and you have a sense of feeling of panic of forgetting something or you will never be ready or that you don’t have enough time to have everything prepared, I will try and help and offer how I changed my mindset after listening to my own mind when it said HAY I need to do this differently. 

I will also share what tools I used to help me focus and balance my mind, body and emotions. As I learnt that I could prepare both my mind and body for stressful situations so that I am better equipped to manage them.

So, having mental health awareness can be a positive thing not a sign of weakness. We always say to help someone. Sometimes all we have to do is listen to them. 

So why not start with listening to yourself first. Or even better stand in front of a mirror and ask yourself, HAY, How Are You……………………