Mental Health Matters

Oct 10, 2022

World Mental Health Day is a reminder to shed light on the many silent battles individuals face every day and how important social welfare, awareness, and education are in supporting our communities against various mental health issues.

Having the right access to resources and support are eminent factors that aid in the betterment of mental health around the globe, but the first step and the most crucial one begins with awareness of the self. Change always begins with us.

3 traits to start building on today to be more mindful

Kindness

We are taught how to be kind from a young age, especially with strangers & family members. But what does it mean to be kind to yourself? Do you beat yourself up when you make a mistake? Do you let yourself feel? Do you give yourself room to be human? If the answer to that is yes, only then are you able to completely project that to others. To be kind is to connect as two equal souls with unconditional positive regard for the other, with absolutely no room for the ego.

The journey to becoming a kind human being is one which lasts a lifetime, it is not meant to be perfected as we are imperfect beings. It is one that is unwithering and persistent, to try again even when you have been unkind, to yourself or someone else.

Empathy

What is empathy? In simplistic terms, it’s that warm feeling when you see or hear from someone and connect with them on an emotional level.
In more literal terms, it’s when “the emotional center perceives the feelings of others and the cognitive center tries to understand why they feel that way and how we can be helpful to them”. Empathy allows us to feel for the other person, irrespective of relationship, differences and reasoning. It is when you create a safe space for another human and invite them wholeheartedly.

Acceptance

You can be the best version of yourself only once you accept who you are. Acceptance is what allows us all to stray away from indifference and biases and invite more of the authenticity that exists. As humans, our sense of belonging is formed on the basis of how open heartedly accepted we are by others. We can only learn to love selflessly through genuine acceptance. It can sound like the easiest but is one of the hardest things to do. It is invaluable because it is something we all crave and fight for. Acceptance is at the core of every political, social, external and internal fight.

Manahil Ijaz

An expat in Dubai who loves engaging with diverse people and having honest conversations about life, through her blog- Egoiste Life. As a passionate artist, Manahil spends most of her weekends writing about the world, reading poetry and creating adventurous memories with the people she loves.

Manahil can be reached at:

Email- egoistethoughts@gmail.com

IG- @egoistelife

Website- egoistelife.com

Manahil Ijaz