5 weeks ago, I decided to start the Mental Health Monday series as a way to shed light on mental health during its awareness month, as well as share information that I hope has been helpful to all of you reading.

We’ve unpacked a lot, from spotting unhealed trauma, to identifying & breaking negative thought patterns, practicing self-soothing techniques for the 5 senses, & the importance of time & task management.

This week we’ll be discussing facing our fears. Before getting into this topic, note that having fears is natural but we tend to fear the unknown a lot & sometimes it becomes debilitating.

Fear usually stems from our negative thoughts & self-talk, which as I’ve mentioned in prior posts typically stem from unhealed childhood wounds.

Facing our fears can be terrifying. As I said above, it sometimes can become debilitating but it doesn’t always have to be. We must hold space & encourage ourselves to endure the discomfort of the inevitable. We must learn to accept uncertainty & remain flexible.

Sometimes we just need to remind ourselves something may be hard but why we’re willing to do it anyway.

Sometimes we need change our perspective & look at things from an attitude of curiosity & say to ourselves “let’s see how this goes.”

Sometimes we need to keep in mind what motivated us to want to face our fears.

We need to always remember that hard times & discomfort don’t last forever.

Also, tapping into your sources of strength may be of help.

When facing fears you will notice your anxiety goes down.

The principles of facing fears is to make it progressive & to do it on purpose. Embrace & stay through the discomfort & uncertainty. Eliminate unnecessary props & repeat as needed.

When you’re better able to identify & break negative thought patterns you’ll find dismissing negative thoughts more efficiently becomes a habit instead of a burden.

When these negative thoughts pop up you can easily dismiss them by saying:

– “Someone’s lying about me again…”

– “There go my thoughts again…”

– “Okay, back to reality…”

– “Thank goodness that isn’t true…”

– “Not everything you think is true…”

The options on what to say to yourself are endless. Find something that resonates with you to remind yourself that your negative thoughts are not becoming. Also, when facing fears it’s important to use common sense to rationalize what is true & what may be distorted.

As we come to a close, I hope my readers know that anxiety & depression do not need to define you. With the Mental Health Monday series, I hope you all piece the information together & realize how all the posts are intertwined to better help you.

As I stated in Week 1, I am not a licensed professional. The information shared has been from my own experiences with anxiety & depression along with tips I’ve learned to better help myself.

This job is one of the most hardest occupations you’ll endure because you can’t run from yourself forever. The payout of this work isn’t monetary but still very rewarding when you look back & realize how far you’ve truly come.

Truth is, we’re forever evolving & there will be many versions of ourselves to get acquainted with. The sooner we get into the habit of holding space for our old & new selves, we can live more freely knowing that we have grown & will continue to do so.

Remain teachable & open to doing things in a new way to avoid getting stuck. Don’t allow your traumas & pain to keep you in a low vibrational state, this will only rob you of time & head/ heart space.

This work is exhausting, but those who put forth effort will ascend higher. Keep in mind that what’s destined for you is already yours. Get in the habit of thinking more positively & you’ll see a shift in your life reflect that.

As always, remain gentle with yourself during this process. I hope you all have enjoyed this series as much as I have enjoyed sharing.

If you think I should continue the Mental Health Monday series after today, please comment below.

– MML