This post is ideal to speak upon the maintenance of your mental health. It is important, now more than ever to keep a positive mind. It is direr during these times. The pandemic has taken its toll on the population. Some folks have lost all hope while others remain optimistic. An infamous quote or saying that you may have seen on any kind of apparel is “Good Vibes Only”.
One thing to keep in mind for your mental health is that it
affects how your feel, think, and even behave daily. Without keeping your mental
health in check, you will not be able to subdue challenges, cope with day-to-day
stress, build healthy relationships and even recover from hardships and setbacks
your life may endure. In some instances,
you are stronger than you think. I, myself, have been through many adversities
and do my utmost best to remain positive through it all.
Recently, the state of Texas has and still is recovering from
a Winter Storm. From freezing rain, rolling blackouts, to complete outages,
people are experiencing more stressors at one time than they probably have in
their entire life. Not only is the storm affecting how we live, but the world
is also still dealing with a global pandemic. However, strong mental health is
not only about having no mental health issues, but it also resides in positive thinking.
An optimistic outlook on life can make a world of difference for your whole well-being.
According to https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/building-better-mental-health.htm,
individuals who are mentally healthy experience, but are not limited to, a
sense of contentment, meaning, and purpose; in both their activities and their
relationship. People with strong mental health also have a balance between work
and play, rest, and activity. They have the know-how to build and maintain
fulfilling relationships.
I know I have built strong mental health over the years.
These attributes I just listed I see in myself. I have a strong self-confidence
and high self-esteem. I like to see the glass as half-full instead of half-empty. We all are going to experience some hard times in life. However, the way
we handle those situations determines how it will affect your overall mental
wellness. I use to be the type to have a great deal of anxiety when I have no control
over things. I feel as if you prepare for things and be proactive vs reactive,
then adversity and hardships will be much easier to overcome.
We all go through some type of change, loss, or disappointment.
These things can be in our personal life or professional life. It is no different
than an athlete or individual of a physically healthy status recovering from illness
or injury with ease. In turn, a person with strong mental health can recover
just as quick to stress, drama, or misfortune. I have learned that this is
called resilience. It is a buoyancy effect
to things that happen in your life and how you bounce back from them.
I believe the hardest thing is to smile when all you want to
do is cry. The thing I try to do when occurring any kind of stress is to
breathe. I find ways to be productive and busy. Keep my mind going to relieve any
stressor that is bringing me down. My resilience to the good or bad things in
my life allows me to have less fear of handling change or uncertain circumstance
that come my way. There were times when I did not know what the outcome would
be, but I do my best to remain confident either way.
I can tell you a time when I had to overcome adversity. I
remember when I first moved to Houston in 2013, I went through three different
jobs within the first 3 years. I adjusted to moving from being a small-town boy
to engaging the fast city life. I was nervous because I have never been this
far away from home. I was 27 years old and working at a local call center full-time
and a stocker at a famous apparel store in the Galleria part-time. My goal at the time was to get me a vehicle to get
around better. During my time working, I went from one campaign to another at
the call center. I was able to save up enough to get a new vehicle. Month later
I lost my job at the call center due to lack of sales.
It was then that my stressors started until I landed a better-paying position at another company within a similar call center environment
with no sales required. For the first
year, things were going great. I was moving around; I was being noticed for my
good work. Although all these good things were happening, in the back of my
mind I had this negative thought rearing its head. It seemed that I could never
hold a job longer than 2 years and I was hoping that this job would be
different. It came to the past that a lot of negative things started happening. Unknowns
to me, the first change was my income.
I had a bad habit of not checking my mail and come to find
out that the IRS was taking a lien on my bank account and my bi-weekly pay
dropped significantly. In turn, I was unable to pay my rent, car note, and even
my phone bill. I did my best to keep up with everything. As a couple months
went by before I was able to fix my tax debt, a domino effect occurred. One by
one I lost my car due to being so far behind without no payment in sight, dodging
the bill collector’s call left and right. I then lost my apartment, since I could
not afford my rent, having to move from the southwest side to the north side
and now commuting more than an hour to work. My job was all I had left.
Unfortunately, the story gets worse. Due to the fact that I was
commuting from what use to be 10 minutes to over an hour, it was very difficult
to catch all my transfers on the bus, staying awake, because I had to
leave earlier than before. My bosses were aware of my circumstance and were understanding
for the most part. However, one day after weeks of dealing with the loss of
transportation, my home, I came to work and did a full shift only to be told an
hour before I get off that I was being let go for tardy offenses. At that moment, I broke down. I was angry, I
was upset to no end, I was in a rage. I did not know what I was going to do.
The person I was staying with at the time, was not happy to
hear that I lost my job. It was the only thing keeping my sanity. I thought I
was going to lose my mind. I ended having to stay with a close friend who just
moved to Houston as well. After a few months of being unemployed, I landed a
job at the company I had today. I kept a smile on my face even though I know I
am starting from the bottom again. The turning point and my resilience came
when I was offered a position at yet another call center. Though with this
company I was offered a more increased pay rate from the job I had prior. It
was a contracting position, but I kept the communication open to see what I
needed to do to become permanent. Within a year’s time, I was able to move
away from the call center and get a better position within the company for
another team. I located a 2nd
change apartment complex to have a home of my own that was closer to my job
with a much shorter commute and one-way bus ride.
6 months after getting my new role, I was offered a permanent
position. A year later after that, I was able to find and obtain a new car.
Something I thought I could never afford. Without realizing it, I surpassed my two-year
stitch with jobs. Going on my 3rd year I was offered a higher
position within the same team due to my hard work and continuous increased efforts
of performance. I was also able to take care of my tax debt. After 3 years. I
was with a company that saw me as a person and not another seat. Now going on 4
years with this team, I was recently offered promoted to an even higher
position.
I tell my story to say this, that even though all the hardships I endured; I never gave up. I wanted to throw in the towel so many times, but I kept pushing, I kept leaving that glass half full. I remained grateful for everything I have and had. I did pray a lot; I enjoyed the little things and I took notice of what was happening around me whether it was good or bad. I said to myself, remember, positive thoughts produce positive results.
- Ty Johnson
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