I spent a majority of my life believing, due to childhood experiences, my well-being or mental health was damaged, shattered, and in need of being repaired. I thought I could heal by fixing my humanness. If I could just be a better person, not make mistakes and heal what is "broken", than I would instantly feel connected to peace, joy, and love (the good feelings).
To “achieve” this, I would continuously look in the direction of what needed repairing within. I would identify my insecurities, mistakes and hurt in hopes to eliminate them through therapy, workshops, alternative healers, and by reading self-help books. I looked outside myself to seek the good feeling of mental health and well-being. But, I simply forgot!
When we are born, we do not start out seeking our well-being or mental health. We simply allow it to do its thing, guide, and nourish us. Same as when we get a cut on our body. Our body does the healing without us telling it what to do. That is because we are all born with Innate Well- Being and Mental Health.
This understanding is displayed in the movie "Wizard of Oz". The "Cowardly Lion" and "Heartless Tin Man" went to ask the Wizard to gift them with courage and a heart. Yet throughout the movie, the lion displayed his natural courage and the tin man shared his heart and compassion. They were never absent despite their personal thinking telling them so.
It’s a great reminder that Mental Health is innate and can never be broken. It can only be obscured by our personal thinking. Our thoughts are like clouds covering the sun. They may block our view of it but haven’t eliminated the sun. Our minds generate tons of thoughts about our experiences and life traumas. Much of our suffering comes from taking those thoughts seriously and to be true.
I could see this more clearly once I was aware of how my thinking distracted me from seeing where my mental health was leading me. By opening my mind to this truth, I was also able to understand that being human is perfectly fine. I could see how my mental health took into account my humanity and navigated me back to center despite any personal thinking that was present.
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