The Importance of Good Mental Health

We are all aware of how important it is to maintain good physical health. However, we often push our mental health to the backburner. We know that our mental health influences our physical health. We’ve heard that anxiety and worry can manifest themselves in our physical bodies. So shouldn’t we be paying more attention to our mental health?

In order to maintain a healthy brain, it is important to pay attention to certain things that we normally overlook. We are able to easily identify some of them, but for whatever reason, we don’t think about them. Sooner or later, ignoring them will take its toll. That’s why now is the time to start working on our mental health by putting some of the following recommendations into practice.

Good mental health translates to well-being

How much time is your mind occupied with concerns about the past and the future? At the same time, you barely have time for the present. All of the sudden, you find yourself in auto-pilot. The days pass, meaningless and monotonous, and you are unable to savor even the small things.

It is important that you learn to practice mindfulness. Learn to center yourself in the here and now so you can escape from obsessing or ruminating over the same thoughts. If these types of thoughts have ever caused you stress, you know exactly what we are talking about. Yesterday doesn’t matter. Neither does tomorrow. Open your eyes today and enjoy what you see.

There is another aspect of your life that you probably haven’t paid enough attention to. Do you spend time with people who add to your life or people who subtract from your life? Why do you give so much to people who don’t give back? Trying to be a good person and pleasing everyone can pay you back with pain and manipulation.

I propose this reflection: if you give everything to people who aren’t contributing, you might not have time left for those who truly deserve it. Think about the friends you keep. Sometimes we are afraid to end a friendship or relationship because we fear losing that which we’ve worked so hard to get. It turns out it wasn’t worth it, not like we thought it would be. It is difficult, but ending these relationships provides relief and is good for our mental health.

For good mental health, don’t adopt a pessimistic view of reality

It is easy to feel pessimistic when everything is going badly. This shows a lack of resilience, which is risky. Your happiness and your mental health are at play. There is often more than one way to read a situation. You could consider a breakup a tragedy, or an opportunity for growth. You choose the path towards which you want to steer the situation.

Also, are you giving yourself what you need? Taking care of yourself, pampering yourself, eating well, and looking out for yourself are things that have been pushed to the backburner at least a few times. Maybe because you are so concerned about others that you forget about yourself, or maybe because you allow your happiness to depend on others. This is a terrible mistake and can lead you to see life in a very negative way. You must come first. This isn’t egotism. It means that you value yourself and you love yourself, without waiting for others to do it for you. 

At some point in your life, you have probably felt stuck because you couldn’t achieve a goal. But did you check first to see if it was possible to achieve it? Sometimes we set goals for ourselves that are impossible to achieve, no matter how much we want them. Our goals have to be realistic. Free yourself from impossible dreams that cause frustration, anxiety, and a feeling of uselessness. This is a very positive exercise for your mental health.

Do you realize how important it is to have good mental health? There are many more habits that can be good for you, here are a few to try: getting rid of your expectations, stop obsessive and unproductive thought patterns, try to forget about changing other people, and learn to manage your emotions.

We tend to complicate our lives or blame our lives for everything that happens to us. In reality, it is in our power to make our lives better and simpler. Nothing is as terrible as it seems, nothing is as bad as we believe. Clearing our mind of junk that prevents us from seeing clearly will help us get closer to true well-being.