Getting excited (again)

You know the days when you’re high on life? When the nervous energy of excitement darts through you; and you feel genuinely inspired and energised with anticipation of your future? When you’re ready to take on whatever is thrown at you? When you’re smiling on the inside?


It is a truly riveting feeling, and I'm so happy to say I’ve been feeling that increasingly over the last couple of months; as if June was the valley, I’m now gliding up the slow incline of the mountain named Life.


I caught myself buzzing today; with ideas, thoughts of gratitude, happiness, contentment; and I reflected on times when I had felt this before. Every time it was followed by a deep slump of mood, or a disappointment that set me back, knocked the wind out of me, or beat the confidence out of me.


This time, it’s different…
Now, a little older, experienced, and comfortable in my skin, I’m starting to feel that I really can take it on – not just with false naivety of youth and unrealistic expectations. This time I know what I’m capable of, and what’s more – I know I’m responsible for getting what I want out of life. That is an empowering secret to unlock – even if it is obvious and simplistic. Having been told something a million times throughout your life, repeating it, preaching it to other people, reposting a cutesy little phrase about it on Facebook….none of it is quite like the penny dropping for the first time!


I have deep-seated memories of feeling quite the opposite;
memories still relatively fresh, in fact. I have had reoccurring depression for several years, and even though it is a hideous, painful condition to bare, I wouldn’t take it back for the world, because:

a) just like living with a myriad of physical illnesses, I can function as very productive of member of society with it; and

b) it has helped me understand who I really am.

But more importantly it also gives me insight to the pain of others experiencing mood disorders, and I want to help.


So, this is why I talk about it
– the one and only reason I talk about it – to remove the taboo, and make this world smaller for people who feel isolated or alone. Our society must learn to speak as freely about mental health as it does the common cold.


Ignore the twats!
I also know one of the biggest, most challenging, and excruciating hurdles a person with a mood disorder can overcome, is that of allowing one’s self to be happy. I have struggled with that for years; and despite how many wonderful, supportive, loving people I have around me, who encourage and compliment me all the time; it is the one voice of the one twat from a million years ago that burrows in and does it’s damage long after they’ve moved on and forgotten about it. This is key to long-term recovery and flourishing: Ignore the twats!


Knowing how it feels on the other side, just the same as the feeling you get from exercising for the first time, makes you want to do it again. When I feel down, I try to focus my attention and energy to replicating my own approach to situations in order to regain the inner feeling of happiness I have experienced before – knowing that I’m capable, and that it will return.


I’ve tapped into the internal dialogue that isn’t just psychological, but physiological; and now I listen, not just to my thoughts but my body as well. Sometimes your body can tell a more accurate story than your mind can.


I recommend taking some quiet time to observe how your body reacts to situations, people, places, and ask yourself if you want continue feeling that or not. If the answer is the later, all you have to do is remove yourself from that situation/person/place, and your body will thank you with a burst of energy that might represent anything from confidence, to empowerment, to calm. Do, see, and surround yourself with the things and people that give you energy.


I believe that, like a domino, the state of the mind dictates the health and well-being of everything else; physical health, and therefore energy levels, and therefore input and emotional presence at work, school, home, in relationships; and therefore the success of those things; and therefore the ability to extend yourself, grow, learn, evolve as a person, and therefore connect to your spirituality and higher self, and therefore invite more positive things into your life; and therefore positively influence people around you, and therefore make the world a better place! Idealistic? I prefer to think not.


The mind is everything.
If we all started with making our own minds healthy, inviting, places to go, we could collectively shape a community better than the one we live in today.


Lifeline, Beyond Blue, Wesley Mission, Relationships Australia, QUT Counselling Service & Caritas Care have all helped me through my journey.

One of my new goals in life is to give back to places like them to express my gratitude, and pay it forward, by offering support in any way I can to others experiencing mental health issues.


If you need help; seek it out:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
Wesley Mission: (02) 9263 5555
Relationships Australia: 1300 364 277


If you want to help; seek a way:
Lifeline
Beyond Blue
Wesley Mission
Relationships Australia
100 Things: People Helping People

I'm genuinely excited about my future, and I hope you are too :)