So as a survivor of a mental health breakdown I have had to accept that there are certain moments in my life when the dark cloud comes and a glass of wine and a bar of chocolate are my go to short term comforts.
I am sure that you can relate, the majority of us all go through periods of extreme highs, where everything feels wonderful and positive and somewhat perfect. On the other hand of the spectrum we all go through periods of darkness and drought and negativity where things just do not feel like we are progressing and in fact we feel like our lives are regressing.
Anyone that tells you ‘ I don’t ever feel this way’ is a big fat liar!!! We all go through these periods, some not as often or as severe as others but we all face them none the less.
Now having understood that these periods are actually very normal I have been able to start to look at them differently. I have had to learn how to do three things that I want to share with you in the hope it might help you and I call them the 3R’s: Recognise - Recover - Rebuild.
RECOGNISE!
I have to recognise that these moments are a necessity for my growth. I now understand that I don’t have to fight the feelings of sadness, depression or loneliness as this makes the period seem harder and darker. So what I do do is recognise that this a dry spell, I drink my favourite wine, eat my favourite chocolate and pray to God for healing and the wisdom to understand that this is a necessary part of my journey and growth.
RECOVER!
I am now able to understand that I am not sick or weird and that all the feelings I am going through are for my growth and not for my downfall and as a result I give myself time to be still and heal. I avoid trying to mask my feelings but on the contrary admit that this is a moment that will pass and I will be stronger for it. In this moment of stillness, I try and eat well, sleep, read and exercise which is actually the last thing I want to do, so I do have to talk myself into just looking after me in the best way I can and being kind to myself in order to aid my recovery.
REBUILD!
During this period I have to try and form new or revisit old positive habits in order to rebuild my mind. So for example I will use my tried and tested method of the power hour, where I get up at 5am and spend 20 minutes in prayer, 20 minutes doing some form of physical activity and 20 minutes learning something new. This gives me a positive spiritual, mental and physical start to the day which always makes me feel like I can take on the world. Being able to develop new ways of thinking is key to learning what the dry spell was trying to teach me all along.
Final Thoughts
So my gift to you in this blog is this, don’t allow or believe that every negative feeling or period of your life is about pulling you down because if you change how you look at it, it can actually be the times where you grow your character and spirituality the most.
Stay Blessed,
Ax