Human Brain is a wonderful beast.
It works non stop 24/7, 365 days a year everyday, tirelessly.
It also, more often than not, takes us on a roller-coaster ride.
Having a break-down, getting up, and then having a break down again.
Let’s talk about why our brain does that.
So, take a deep breath, slow down and read.
Scrolling through the comments under a sad music playlist on YouTube, containing countless messages and stories of people battling depression, anxiety and still supporting each other with words of comfort, I’m overwhelmed with emotion.
What a world we live in, where kids aged as young as 10 are struggling with anxiety and stress.
And it’s not just one or two, but millions all around the globe, feeling lonely, numb and soulless.
But why is this happening?
What exactly is the reason, for our mind working the way it works when we have a mental breakdown?
Before exploring that, let’s back up and let me tell you my story.
I’m the type of person who always wants to be productive.
As someone who has definitely adopted the unlimited productivity mentality in the past, I can say that this mindset will definitely allow you to do more. I wrote 80,000 words in the journal in a month, got straight A’s in my classes and read dozens of books each year. I expected myself to do more and gave myself no excuse to slack off.
But this came at a cost.
I found myself associating productivity with happiness and I would feel guilty for doing anything “unproductive” like spending time with family, making art, exercising and even eating food.
I would be in a rush all the time, not enjoying what I was doing, never in the present but always thinking of the future and what I should be doing instead. I used to berate myself on not doing enough, and used to hate it when I didn’t live up to my expectations.
And pretty soon, I became toxic to myself.
This happened because of certain reasons:
- I took on a lot of responsibilities at the same time.
- Being a perfectionist and it was never enough.
- I felt a need to be in control all the time and struggled to give responsibilities to others.
- Had a pessimistic outlook on life in general.
- Bad Sleeping routine. (I slept from 4 AM to 9AM, practically a vampire)
- Lacking healthy coping mechanisms. (Whenever I felt overwhelmed even a little bit, I went back and used reading fantasy fiction novels as an escape. I think I may have read over 100 novels in the last year)
What I learnt from all of that was,
You need to be in the present.
Today is all you have. Try to choose what you want to do all day honestly and genuinely try to be immersed and focused on what you’re doing at a time. It will help you lose unnecessary stress over things that are not in your control.
So, Although, I do believe people underestimate how much they can accomplish, I would also caution against putting too much value on productivity.
Always put your health and happiness first.
Speaking of health, have you ever faced any physical discomfort and immediately thought to consult the doctor?
Now think about when you’re stressed, when you’re anxious, when you’re feeling depressed. Were the first thoughts that came to your mind ever of consulting a therapist?
What most people don’t understand is, being anxious, stressed and overwhelmed are also symptoms of our mind not doing well. And if we don’t do something about it, it gets worse.
The point I’m trying to make here is,
Mental health is as important as our Physical health.
Our mind is what makes us. And not taking care of it properly could lead to disastrous consequences.
Let’ s talk about a common problem.
Procrastination.
Procrastination is actually a far worse of a problem than people think.
For a long period of time I went through a phase of procrastination on literally everything.
10 hours a day reading novels, just not doing the things I knew I should be doing.
And when you live your life knowing that there is something you should be doing that you know you’re not doing, it has a huge effect on your mental state.
When you promise yourself and you create plans and tell yourself that tomorrow’s gonna be different but tomorrow’s not different, you lose trust in yourself because effectively, you lie to yourself.
You’re unable to just do simple things that you know you should be doing.
People procrastinate even when they know its bad for them and even when they want to stop .
You’re basically acting against your own judgement.
You are refusing to do basic things that you know are going to benefit you and know can improve your life, but you don’t do them.
What I’ve personally learnt from this is, saying, “ Fuck it ” is honestly more motivating for me than saying “You can do this” or any other well thought out plan to get something done.
You know why?
Because “ Fuck it ” accepts the possibility of failure.
Rather than trying to find a perfect way to not lose that opportunity or to achieve the best outcome, just going for it has worked the best to push me through.
There is always more prep I could do, always more hours I could study or I could get bogged down in avoiding negative outcomes. But at some point, I need not care if I fail. Yeah, It might suck. But its better than doing nothing. And “fuck it” is like taking my emotions off the hook.
Its giving me permission to fail.
And that’s what helped me.
I said to myself,
“Yes, you could’ve done that project months ago, you could’ve tried being better years ago. But all you have is now. And now is the second best time to start. So just go ahead and do it.”
When you imagine doing a certain activity , it makes you feel dread, it makes you fear failure, it makes you feel doubt. Because of that, you procrastinate. Its wired into your brain.
When you think of doing that activity, your brain rationalizes it or distracts you. And that’s when you go for instant gratification things like scrolling on instagram or facebook. Your brain does whatever it can do to minimize those negative emotions.
So, putting those negative emotions off your mind is the first step in taking care of your health.
Making lifestyle changes is one of the most important things a person can do to have a healthy mind. These given below worked for me.
- Two words. 14 letters. Yoga & Meditation.
It keeps both your physical as well as mental health in good shape.
2. Whenever you’re stressed, try singing out loud.
It will help with your stress and also keep up your spirits. (Tried and tested)
3. Take a walk. Be physically active.
It will help you be aware of your body and get to know what it needs.
4. Eat healthy.
Remove sugar, add water, get your food from the source. You can replace sugar with jaggery or honey.
5. Me time.
Taking some time for yourself and to just do something you enjoy is of the utmost importance. Include me time in your schedule and you will see the change.
So, to answer the question of,
“Is your mind okay?”
It’s pretty damn fantastic, but you got to keep it that way by taking care of your mind.
That’s all for today.
