So many people suffer from anxiety nowadays that it seems almost endemic in everyday life. About 3 years ago I read that mental illness was the fastest growing illness in the western world, outstripping all the physical illnesses.
Has it become a habit?
Unfortunately social epidemics, lifestyles and behaviours, spread as quickly and widely as any virus. We’re seeing now that younger people are being nursed through their anxiety, and mental health is constantly mentioned in relation to the young.
A younger generation that have been plagued with tests since the age of 7, have inordinate pressure put on them leading up to exams, and are all too often from broken homes or one parent families. Many are also living in highly undesirable and inappropriate, mould ridden, accommodation. The parents raising them don’t know which way to turn.
In my day…
Yes I’m old enough to say that, I come from a generation that had a childhood. One without the need for expensive electronic games equipment, mobile phones, and even worse, social media. We were free to be children, to play outside, to get muddy, to become suntanned without people worrying themselves silly and applying tons of sun bloc. That childhood set us up for our future lives.
Of course we haven’t all had an easy time, I certainly didn’t, I suffered from anxiety learned in a dysfunctional family for over 40 years. Even so, I did have a time when I certainly felt free and had fun. Nowadays people are stressed by SATs at school by the time they’re 7.
The other beauty of my childhood was that no one had anything, and as I was born only 12 years after the end of WWII, that really didn’t matter because we were just lucky to be alive, and everyone else was in the same boat in our road.
Putting all this to one side
It’s a simple fact that what you think about you bring about, and what you focus on grows stronger. I think we’d all agree that not hearing about anxiety and mental health takes a certain skill. Sometimes we’re faster on the draw with the TV doofer than John Wayne was in his movies.
So here we are, a society whose mental health is constantly being questioned, focused on, and not in a healthy way. It should be could mental-unhealth. This focus means that people are being told they’re vulnerable, not that they’re strong, able to cope, but reminded that help is out there should you struggle.
Life can be tough
We all know that, but not all the time. We need to focus far more strongly on the times that life is not tough. We also need to learn when to move on from situations that aren’t making us happy. We need to use happiness as a litmus test for our wellbeing, rather than sneering at the dummies who are silly enough to believe in it, in these challenging, unfair, times.
Happiness is real folks, and you can create it, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
The price is too high
Our minds should not cost us our happiness, anxiety should be a rare thing quickly dealt with, changing what makes us unhappy should be a no-brainer, and we really need to step into our power and out of the latest crazes, because frankly we’re in the middle of one that’s driving us in the wrong direction.
Anxiety should not be a normal part of every day life, damage to your mind shouldn’t be the cost of living, shredded emotions aren’t normal.
Think about how you can simplify your life. How you can reduce your costs maybe by reducing the stuff you need. An impressive house that’s giving you sleepless nights with the mortgage is not necessary. The latest technology is not necessary. The latest cars, shoes, fancy holidays, are not neccessary.
But feeling good is critical. It’s that simple.
To your happiness and the right choices for you
Deb xx
Deb Hawken 