There is certainly no doubt surrounding the importance of mental health. In fact, although there is still a great distance of progress to be made as to the generally accepted view of how significant mental health is to our completeness as human beings, we’re getting there.
Something I believe that, not entirely ignored but, is undoubtedly lacking in presence to the conversation is that of emotional health.
The barometer of our overall well-being has always encompassed a long-standing position toward the maintenance of our physical health but is now making a positive shift to include our mental health, as well. Within that, or perhaps a third quotient on its own, I believe, is emotional health.
Because the concept of mental health, although infinitely important, being in its relative infancy with respect to its public acceptance and relevance, thought toward or even the acknowledgement of emotional health is far behind if not entirely non-existent altogether. But, it too, provides and plays such a significant role in how you perceive, interpret and navigate your reality.
Not unlike mental well being, our emotional health is predicated on how we process our feelings and the translation of those feelings through to our thoughts and actions. Our mental functioning is a direct product of concepts, experiences and beliefs that are held within our emotional field. And yet, although we understand and speak about our “feelings” when trying to steer through our mental maze, we simply only scratch the surface on how deep our emotions run and reflect outwardly from our thoughts.
The mind is a powerful ally and adversary all at once, but our heart is really the engine that makes us go; it is always on our side. It really is everything. Who we are, what we believe, how we act, are all personifications of what we translate from our heart with our mind. I, for a very long time, assumed that how I thought is what I felt. But, it’s the other way around; what we feel is how we think. Are thoughts and feelings and feelings and thoughts intertwined and, probably, inseparable? I’m sure I’d have to say ‘yes’ more than anything else. But, I also don’t believe we provide enough attention to what our feelings really say to us or where they come from. The greatest impacts I’ve ever experienced within my Self were all a product of my emotion; of what I felt. That from which translated into what I thought; thought about me, about my life, thought about the people near to me. Yet, as much as I thought I was addressing those emotions, was I? I’ve discovered that, although I paid great credence toward my heart, there was a blurred line where into my mind took over.
My life has taken me in a direction where I’ve labelled myself as a “feelings” person (get your Myers-Briggs type indicators out). And, I’ve thought that we are not all feelings type people. But, we are. We just don’t all choose to be. We feel, but we ignore. We feel, but we push away. We feel, but we internalize. We believe that just by “feeling”, maybe almost automatically or passively, that we’ve done our job of attending to that side of us. But, there’s more to it. There’s more questions to ask, more depth to embark on, more challenge to face. And, I think, that’s what holds us back; emotion is tough. It requires a lot from us to find the truth. We’re scared to learn what we might find; scared to learn what may surface about ourselves. But, emotional health and well being is not about the fear of what’s there, it’s about the healing that will come. And, it will take facing that. It will take your own resolve to make that choice.
It’s been part of my own process and my own evolution, to address these parts of myself introspectively and, pun intended, to get to the heart of what it is. It’s been a journey and not an easy one. But, I don’t view it as a difficult one, either. It just feels like it’s the journey of who I am. And, I’m certainly not done. I don’t think one would ever be done. Your heart has no boundaries and so why would you?
Be Love.
