May - Mental Health Month

I bet you did not know that May is the mental health month. I want to encourage you to take this month and look at your mental health. We often look and talk about our physical health but when is the last time you dedicated some time to assess where you are emotionally. Physical, emotional and spiritual health are tied together. Therefore, if you are only looking at one part of the equation you will not go far.

Joan really wants to exercise. Her blood pressure and cholesterol have been on the rise for years and she knows she needs to do something. Although, whenever she tries to exercise she has no motivation and no energy. Some of this has to do with being depressed over never being enough. Joan feels she is never the wife, mother or worker at her job that she “should be”. Joan tends to be very perfectionistic and when she does not do something perfect she tends to focus solely on the way she failed and cannot move forward. This also has affected her relationship with God. She has tried to go to church on and off, read a passage of scripture and pray but something is blocking her from following through and staying with the things she wants to pursue.

Now, you can see her physical, emotional and spiritual health is intertwined. Broaden your view this month and look at your emotional and spiritual health also.

Here are some questions that might help:

• Am I ignoring the emotions of anger, sadness, and fear? If so, why?

• Am I denying the past’s impact on the present? What we try to ignore usually just grows.

• Is my life divided out “secular” parts and “spiritual” parts? As we saw above health is intertwined. We may think we are separating them out but they always affect each other. 

 

We will be focusing all this month on ways to help become healthier by focusing in on our mental health and how this affects both our physical and spiritual health.

Resources:
This month on Twitter (@kelly_saylor) there will be a focus of tips to help your emotional and spiritual health).

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero.


Editor's Note: The Community Care ministry provides emotional and spiritual support. There is a pastor or community care leader available to speak with you today. If you have questions regarding the Community Care ministries please contact communitycare@mecklenburg.org or 704.598.9800 x 121. You may also learn more at the Community Care website and our upcoming events page.