MENTAL HEALTH - Use Your Time

To you, mental health might mean something else, but I think of mental health as having to do with:
➢    A person’s ability to cope with life and the things life throws at them
➢    One’s ability to obtain and maintain a sense of well-being
➢    The view a person has of themselves
➢    Mental health disorders such as Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Schizophrenia, and Depression to name a few.

When working at maintaining my mental health, I keep a circle of friends who are happy people who are naturally optimistic. It’s much easier to be positive when surrounded by positive people.

One of the reasons many people become depressed is because they fail to occupy their mind and time with positive activities. Some sit around the house thinking about how miserable their life is, which only makes them more unhappy. Be careful to not allow yourself to fall into this trap. My mental health is largely dependant on keeping my mind busy and being productive. For me, it’s a must.

Living with Sickle Cell Anemia often means having a great amount of down time. Why not use that time to your advantage? For example, you can use your free time to:

➢    Complete makeup homework from school
➢    Start a new hobby or finish a project
➢    Read a book or write a story
➢    Learn to play chess or a musical instrument
➢    Keep a journal or start a scrapbook
➢    Learn to draw or paint
➢    Improve yourself in any way you desire.

I have always tried to find something to do while doing nothing; activities that requires little physical effort. This includes: arts, crafts, reading, writing, and scrapbooking. In doing so, I receive satisfaction in knowing I’m being productive with my time rather than feeling like I’m a lazy toad sitting on a bump on a log.

Finding ways to occupy yourself with your down time can prevent depression, distract you from your pain, be a means of releasing emotional stress, and a source of self-expression. Knowing you are using your time to better yourself will boost your self-worth.

In life it’s common to hear people say, “I wish I had the time to do this,” or “I wish I could learn to do that.” Try to realize that you’ve been given a gift—you have the time most people don’t have to do the things you want.