Energy Archives - The Road To Mental Wellness

Where you put your energy can make a big difference on your healing.
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Before you reading, Where You Put Your Energy, I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who has supported The Road To Mental Wellness, your contributions keep me going….. Thank you! Any donations are greatly appreciated. To donate, please click the donate button below

As I roll up to the coffee shop not far from my hometown I feel a wave of fear come over me. Is it going to be noisy in there? Or will it be absolute chaos? While I feel like I’m being held down in my front seat of my car, I decide that I value my good friend, who is waiting inside too much to simply drive away.

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Since 2016 this is pretty much how I’ve lived my life. Long sabbaticals away from the public; far removed from the noise and chaos. However, I refuse to be a slave to PTSD.

As I’ve said many times before, we get to choose where we put our energy. Regardless of what we have in the tank, it can still be used to propel us forward. The important question is; “Do I put what limited energy I do have into constant rumination, angst and fear? or do I maximize it on living?

Where you put your energy — Photo by Helena Lopes on Pexels.com

While I know that we can’t always bust through the fear and anxiety of, let’s say, the outside world, I have found that I can ill afford to be torched by what goes on in my head either. Therefore, if both are dire, I might as well make the best of it.

So, I set goals and I commit to doing what I’m doing tonight. For example, I have a short list of people that I will muster up my limited energy for. Which is why I am sitting in this parking lot this evening. I’m meeting a very close friend that is worth the torment of the surrounding goings-on. I make time for the people on this list even when I don’t feel like it.

How to best manage your mental illness.

Consequently, however, it often makes how I am feeling worse. But as I have come to learn in my life, understanding that being uncomfortable is part of life; therefore, it should be dealt with, not avoided. For me, this is so fundamental to my survival.

As counterintuitive as it sounds, placing your limited energy into what makes you uncomfortable can enrich your life and help you on your own road to mental wellness. How? Well, I frequently look back on moments I spent with friends, family etc, with fondness and with a sense of accomplishment.

For a moment, I beat my anxiety and the symptoms of PTSD. And because I chose to put my energy into something as amazing as a coffee with a great friend, I, for that moment in time felt the illusive feelings of normalcy.

So, where will you put your limited energy?.

The Road To Mental Wellness – The Book

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I am excited to announce that I will be revealing my first book cover in mid January. Called The Road To Mental Wellness, it chronicles my lifelong battles with mental illness. It’s goal? To help others by telling my story…. Check back for updates. However, if you would like to see it sooner, simply subscribe to The Road To Mental Wellness email list and I will be more than happy to send you the exclusive first look at it.

Lemonade Stand III

Order Lemonade Stand Vol. III

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When ambition meets PTSD, we are forced to customize our lives.
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When deciding to write this post, I thought about my internal conflict that rage inside; a battle between my hopes and dreams and how impactful PTSD is on my desire to see them through. You see, when ambition meets PTSD, it creates an entirely new set of mentally mind-blowing angst to fight with.

If I were asked to summon this up in one word, what the cornerstone of this entire battle is, it would be uncertainty. I literally have no idea what my future looks like going forward. However, despite this, I am not deterred from trying to figure it out.

Finding meaning when mentally ill.

Ok, so I may have days when thinking about the future is a huge deterrent and I may greet a day or two when the battle to find meaning and purpose is too overwhelming. Even so, when met with this internal confrontation, I simply crawl back into bed and hit the rest button; a reboot that, on average takes around twenty-four hours; I’m an old, worn model maybe that why it takes so long.

While I may “shutdown” from time to time, I don’t let this deter me either. So what, if I need a day, I take a day; heck, I’ve even taken two, I just never let the dark own my entire week, month or even year. I do after all, have ambition; albeit, under two tons of mental heavy metal.

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I know that you know the struggle and I also know that you never planned for your life to go sideways like an eighteen wheeler on black ice but it has; so, now what? The question now becomes, what do you have to do to get past it?

Want more? Try When PTSD catches up.

Often times, this question can a tough one to answer. However, I try my best to simplify it. Fundamentally, we can do one of two things. We can, one, do nothing, not an option for an ambitious fella like me. Or, we can; two, fight like hell to regain a life that, admittedly, will never be the one you once knew but nonetheless can still be something great.

When ambition meets PTSD — Photo by Vlad Chețan on Pexels.com

It’s for this reason; that life can be something great that both you and I should endeavour to fight for that “something great”. For at the end of the day, when ambition meets PTSD or any other mental health condition for that matter, we still have a choice where to put the energy we have, right? What’s key here, is making sure we customize our journey, so we can set ourselves so we may live again.

Checkout the book I helped to write:

Lemonade Stand: Vol. III

Created by Josh Rivedal and Kathleen Myre, Lemonade Stand: Vol. III is a compilation of 20 stories from those who have served in the emergency services and the military. In it, the authors talk about their battles with PTSD, a debilitating and for many, a life-long mental illness. So, if you are from the military or emergency service’s, perhaps this book can help you combat the feelings of isolation and fear that frequently comes with post-traumatic stress disorder. Sometimes, just knowing that there are others out there, just like you, can provide you with the strength and courage to speak up and or get the help you need. The intention of this book is to help with that…. You’re not alone.

Also, Lemonade Stand: Vol III was written to help combat the stigma that often accompanies mental illness, best of all, it attempts to give all you served their countries and communities a voice… Which is amazing!