What Is A Mental Health Journey?

We talk about mental health journeys a whole lot around here. If you’re trying to make improvements in your life, it’s impossible to avoid talking about your journey. Whether you’ve journeyed for years, or just started out, it can be a challenge to determine what you want, where you’re headed, and how to get there. Your journey can start at any time, and it can happen in any order. We have wisdom for every step of the way.

Sometimes it’s the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination.

– Drake

Where Does My Mental Health Journey Start?

Your journey doesn’t begin when you choose to. You’ve been going the distance ever since you learned how to walk. You’ll be journeying the rest of your life if you’re lucky. Your journey begins, as most stories do, in a place of comfort and monotony: the way things have always been.

When To Get To Work On Your Mental Health Journey

Something isn’t right. It might not be immediately apparent to everyone else, but there’s a part of you that desires constantly, and aches for change. Once you recognize your desire, you can begin figuring out what needs to change.

The Obstacles Of Your Mental Health Journey

Just because you’ve noticed something, that doesn’t mean you’re fully aware of it. Human beings are stubborn and fearful of change. In fact, humans are so stubborn that denial is an expected feature of any mental health journey. To fight through denial, you’ll need the right attitude, the right guidance, and the right guide.

Finding Guidance

The easiest way to travel is when you’re with somebody who’s driven down this road before. That’s who your guide should be, someone who’s embarked on a journey of their own, and learned a lesson that you need to learn.

Taking The Plunge 

Once you’ve listened to the whisper, recognized your desires, and found your mentor, then it’s time to stand on the precipice of massive change! If you’ve ever done a high dive into a swimming pool, this is the moment where you stand on the diving board, looking down. The height can be intimidating. The process is prone to failure and likely to require multiple attempts to do it right. But your most valuable lessons are just beyond the surface of the water, if only you take the plunge and dive in.

Doing Things Differently

After you’ve committed to doing things differently, you can really start putting the lessons you’ve learned into practice. This can be difficult. You won’t be able to rely on your old ways of being and doing. It sounds counter-intuitive, but you’ll have to adjust to living the sort of life you wanted. Otherwise, you’ll be tempted to go back.

“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” – Haruki Murakami

Rising To The Challenge Of Your Journey

When we are learning, we are tested. If you went to college, you could attend as many lectures as you want, but you couldn’t graduate unless you were able to pass your exams. On your mental health journey, you’ll be similarly tested. You may have to face lessons that you desperately wished not to learn. But on the other side, you’ll come out having changed.

Having Changed

Once you’ve gone through all of this, you’ll be a different person. One who’s fit to go on new and different journeys with equally new and different lessons. Once you’ve weathered your trials, and made it out on the other side, you can share your wisdom with others and help them along on their mental health journeys.

You can also, of course, embark on another journey.