As March unfolds, it whispers that change doesn’t need to be loud to be powerful. New beginnings often start quietly within us.
We are delighted to welcome the new season this month of March. The heat of summer is behind us. The fresh breath of fall air is with us and before us. This is a perfect time to get back to our work or school or whatever occupies our time and our focus. But it is also a perfect time to refocus on what is good and what we need to be healthy and whole.
As always, Athenie’s Angels is here to help you all through both good times and bad. Be sure to visit our web site www.atheniesangels.org.au where we offer resources and information on our community-based programs. @atheniesangels on Instagram is another source of guidance and inspiration. A recent example of an Instagram post is:
- Myth: Mental illness is incurable
- Truth: Mental illness is treatable and many people recover. While some conditions are long lasting, receiving the appropriate support from friends, family and even a mental health professional can reduce symptoms and lead to a happy and healthy life.
This month we will focus on HOPE and JOY as we continue our journey to mental well-being.
HOPE is an expectation or desire for a certain thing to happen. It is grounds for believing that something good may happen. It makes us optimistic. But we also have a responsibility to think and behave in a manner that will support our hopes.
JOY is a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. It is also a state of happiness. And a cause or source of delight. Joy can be bliss, delight, satisfaction, wonder, revelry, solace. It is a powerful emotion and can help us through both good times and not so good times. Joy and pain can co-exist. Don’t wait until you think your pain is gone and you have healed. Invite joy into your life during you difficult times.
Psychological Flourishing is a state of optimal mental, emotional and social well-being. The key components are:
- Positive emotions: experience joy, gratitude, contentment regularly
- Engagement: be deeply involved in activities
- Relationships: foster deep, meaningful connections with others
- Meaning: find value and purpose in life
- Accomplishment: pursue goals
- Resilience: grow and thrive despite adversity
What do you love? What makes you feel good? What makes you happy?
You can try making a list. Or keeping a notebook where you can write down your thoughts and your experience. You can call it a happy journal if you want to you. We know a ten-year-old who writes something every night in bed before she turns out the light. It might only take five minutes but it encourages her to think about something positive and bring that positivity into her sleep state. She has been doing this for six moths and the difference in her demeanor is noticeable. Try it if you can!!!
Here are some ideas for you to consider:
- Make coffee: it may be what you need to get going – and to keep going. (Have a cup of tea for a soft landing.)
- Take a soothing shower. Or bath.
- Hug someone (a friend, parent, baby…)
- Learn a new word and try to use it in a sentence or in conversation.
- Listen to music. Pay attention to the lyrics (see our reference to the Beatles below)
- Watch the birds fly overhead
- Feel the rain.
- Re-read one of your favorite books.
- Write a letter. To yourself. Or an old friend. Or a family member.
- Take a nap.
Poetry can transport us
Self Help by Charles BernsteinBelow is an excerpt from this poem (note that words in italics have been added here to make the poem more universal to you – our readers and our friends):
- Election (Or anything else?) going the wrong direction – Kick off slippers, take a deep breath, be here now.
- Boss (or someone else) says your performance needs boost – A long hot bath soothes wrinkles.
- (Your dinner order) still not served and everyone else got their orders twenty minutes back –
Savor the water, feast on the company. - Miss the train (or bus or plane)? – Great to explore the station (or airport).
Charles Bernstein is a poet, editor and publisher and university professor. He is known for his ability to show how language and culture are intertwined. It can be serious or playful. You can find more of his work at poetryfoundation.org
Music can transport us
A few lines from the song Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles are below:
- Here comes the sun
- And I say it’s all right
- Little darlin
- It feels like years since it’s been here
- Here comes the sun
- The smile’s returning to the faces
- And I say it’s all right
George Harrison of the Beatles wrote Here Comes the Sun which is a song about hope and renewal. The sun in these lyrics can be literal or a metaphor for overcoming hardship, stress and depression and finding brighter days ahead.
There are so many beautiful and inspiring songs available to us. Just look and listen. They will lift your spirits.
We’d love to walk this next season with you. Visit our website at www.atheniesangels.org and sign up for the programs that speak to you.
We are a place of hope!