Let's have magic potion
Like a little kettle which blows!
Gauging the pressure that grows!
How did we enter this rat race? Was it our choice or was it just the path most known?
Happiness took a back seat; smiles became distant relative.
Childhood was a period of building and learning about oneself.
When did it became a pressure cooker?
With each passing day and increasing competition life is becoming like a force being driven by everything negative and not enough healthy competition. The spirit of sportsmanship is being lost in this game of cats and dogs a chasing game to achieve what is believed to be the best by the world. Such an abstract concept it is, best is like a myth. Best for someone might be average for others. Drawing an apple in perfect shape would be an achievement for someone who can’t draw a straight line but drawing the same thing for a professional sketcher is like nothing. So, what decides who is perfect, what is the best and what the future intakes.
We live in a society where there is a large gap between insanity and sanity that gap is
what is called mental health. Like everything we tend to ignore which we don’t understand that is what exactly is mental health to majority of people. Given by World Health Organization (WHO) it means it is a foundation for the well-being and effective functioning of individuals. It is more than the absence of a mental disorder; it is the ability to think, learn, and understand one's emotions and the reactions of others. Mental health is a state of balance, both within and with the environment. Physical, psychological, social, cultural, spiritual, and other interrelated factors take part in producing this balance. There are inseparable links between mental and physical health.
Sometimes the world will feel like crashing, sometimes the world will go nuts. Even having everything perfect does not mean that mental health is also perfect. This blog is more like a diary into my feelings, the turmoil in my heart, the chaos in the calms.
Talking to Pratik A. Shetty, Counsellor and Educator, M.A. Lifespan Counselling, St. Xavier's college (Autonomous), Mumbai. He stated that I believe that mental health has different meanings for different individuals so there is no fixed definition for the same. For me personally, mental health means growth and peace of mind. If one has "good" mental health they find themselves to be at peace with themselves and the lives they live, while at the same time they find themselves taking steps towards growth without many hurdles. While "Bad" mental health could impact this peace significantly and cause distress while at the same time hindering one's growth.
The reason for decline in mental health can be variant for everyone, one reason might be devastating and decline the mental health, but the very same reason can be normal situation for someone else. When two people don’t have same tolerance level, when DNA is not same how can we expect the reaction to be same.
Expectation to achieve the unrealistic beauty standard, vacation standard or even home standard. Behind these filters and correction apps which have determined what is perfect and what isn’t. One forgets while dwelling behind these wide HD, crystal clear cut screens are so misleading there is a reality which is so different, a person might not be that healthy or wealthy or even that happy. As Mr. Shetty explained there can be many reasons which influence a decline in one's mental health, these influences could be big or small, ranging from the grief experienced after the loss of a loved one, experiencing a traumatic event to just having a lot of negative experiences in a short period of time.
All these influences, big or small, are completely valid and must be treated as such. If one is feeling troubled, that is their truth, and that truth must be accepted and worked upon no matter the cause.
Speaking through a student’s perspective, the curiosity of childhood is lost to the sea of perfection of the supposed norms set by the world that is hidden by the facets of perfection. Sometimes we forget the world consists of lot more than just the grades, assignment, interviews and the first impression. We all need that someone to lean on, to talk to, to laugh with to express with.
Happiness is said to be subjective, passing through college for bachelor’s, class 11-12 competitive exams. Life does not end there. An exam is not the end we have heard this a million time but the time frame which we follow, the do and die situation which we create for ourselves to achieve an unrealistic goal which sometimes is not even our own. Take a deep breath and thank yourself for being sane through all insanity. When life becomes as sour as lemons know one thing you are the one who needs to add sugar or salt or any other additive, not all taste the same but all of them separately add a different flavor to the mixture. Why try to fit yourself in a mould built for someone else. Pratik explained that, as an educator I often tend to validate and understand the rat race because every college wants only the best of the best to join their courses and thus set their standards accordingly. But as a student I really sympathize with the extreme stress and uncertainty that we must go through just to get educated in the fields of our choice. This gets worse the higher the level at which one wishes to get educated at, this sort of gatekeeping of knowledge might allow for only capable candidates making the cut but is not very inclusive of everyone and their future capacities.
Life will always be full of lemons; happiness is like sugar syrup.
Like lemons life will have its sourness, mental health is like the perfect balance of sweetness to sourness.
Take the stirrer, take the control!
Give yourself a try. You deserve it love!
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