Hello Everyone! Welcome to the One Year Anniversary of On Recovery Road! We made it! Thank you all for coming along for the journey. I hope the topics discussed over the course of this blog has helped you with some of the mental challenges you have faced with in your life.
In todays post, I want to summarize some of the mental health tips/self help tools I have gained through this blog into some digestible chunks. With each point I have included the blog post it is associated with so you can see the original post and further detail on the subject.
Before I get started, Today is another important day; Bella (my dogs) first Gotcha Day Anniversary!
Bella has been a wonderful addition to the family. It means so much to come home to someone who is happy to see you. I am grateful to the wonderful volunteers of Mostly Mutts who saved Bella from the animal shelter and countless other animals from being put down and giving them a chance to be in a forever home.
On with the post!
Mental Health Tips Gained from 2019
- You can’t help others until you help yourself
As much as we want to help people, the intentions behind them have to be for the best. Otherwise, we keep trying to make ourselves feel happy on a source that constantly relies on others and not ourselves.
2. Mediation helps combat depression by bringing you to the
present moment
3. Practice Compassionate Communication
When we can truly open our mind and ears, listen to others and ourselves, only then can we communicate effectively to each other.
4. Forgiveness can help us move on from toxic behavior
Learning to forgive others and to forgive ourselves can help us move on and focus more on the present.
5. Knowing When to Quit
When we know we can no longer tolerate something, we are honoring ourselves and making health life choices.
6. Be Grateful for everything you have experienced and are experiencing today. Each day is a blessing and its up to ourselves to see the truth in the statement.
As a principal quoted in my youth every day during announcements “Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours”, the choice is ours to make it a great day, to see the positive in situations, even when all hope seems lost.
7. Give yourself permission to change
Life is beautiful, every second we breath in is an opportunity to have a better now. Even if something just happened, the fact that you are beyond that moment now, you have a chance to move forward.
A reflection on my own path, a lot can change in a year. I feel like the path of self-help and improvement will always be an on-going journey. Not too long ago, I feel into my depressive spiral and I was in a situation that I didn’t realize was toxic until I ended it. It was heart breaking because I thought it was a potential relationship. When I realized that this person was not going to be the person I needed and was only using me to make themselves feel better, I knew it had to end. As afraid as I am to be alone, I couldn’t keep accepting that behavior and treatment. For me, that is a huge accomplishment.
In the next year, I hope to continue my self-improvement and mental inner workings and continue sharing my discoveries within this blog. One of my top goals for 2020 is to learn to love myself, inside and out.
I hope that this blog has served as an inspiration for those reading. I would love to know if anyone has tried anything, to know whats worked for them and what hasn’t.
The biggest thing I wish to impart is that self-improvement is in your best interest, and that you are totally worth having the best life that you can.