This could be the key to moving FORWARD

This could be the key to moving forward. Let your passion be your guide to true fulfilment and happiness. Don’t wait, follow your passions now and find your true happiness.

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This could be the key to moving FORWARD

for many years, I spent my life in fear of what other people would think if I followed my true passion in life. Now, in my mid-40s, I’ve decided but I would walk away from this internal script and follow my dream of being a writer. So, an early fall of 2019, I started The Road To Mental Wellness to save myself from myself. While I pursued my dream and an attempt to alleviate my mental pain, my advice is to never let life get to the point where you need to work it out. You should listen to your passion. For this could be the key to moving forward in a life full of what you love, not merely going to work. You got this!

This could be the key to moving FORWARD
This could be the key to moving FORWARD
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Lemonade Stand III

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MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES PAGE

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What gets you out of bed

What Gets You Out of Bed?

So, What gets you out of bed? Can rediscovering your passion help you heal?

Before you reading, What Gets You Out of Bed?, 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

I consider myself blessed with a curse. I know, I know it’s a bit of an oxymoron to say, nonetheless, it’s true. Here, let me explain. Firstly, having a dual mental illness diagnosis is not exactly pleasant to say the least; nor was it part of my life plan. But nonetheless, here I am.

Secondly, while it’s true that it’s less than Ideal, I have however, been fortune enough to have a passion to help others. This life-long desire to help has been strong enough to fight its way past depression’s mindset; to overcome to some degree the hellish ride of PTSD and push past my fear of everything thanks to anxiety.

When I finally put the two together, it gave me a little something I like to call purpose. Essentially, I took lemons and made lemonade. Or at least, that’s what I try to do every day.

Grab your copy of Lemonade Stand Vol. III here.

When I look at all the things that keep me going, my desire to help others is near the top. For instance, this blog, The Road To Mental Wellness, gives me a reason to put my feet on the floor every morning. The prospect that I might be inspiring or helpful to others in some way gives me a reason to get out of bed. Perhaps even more important, it gave me the strength to stay out of bed. At least more often. More is good right?

So, what gives you purpose? What gets you out of bed in the morning, the afternoon or even after a week? The good thing about searching for your meaning is, your efforts can give you at a minimum, a temporary purpose. This may energize you enough to, not only start your search, but it may be the catalyst that keeps you going. Putting in the time, you will spark a whole new love for something.

One of the most valuable lessons for me while I slug through this hellhole of illness is this: No matter how tough things are, reinventing myself and my place in the world has helped me to move forward. I’m getting there in part because I’ve asked myself questions like these:

Discovering your Passion

  • What skills did I have previous to my illness that can help me rediscover my purpose? For example, I was a helper for most of my life. Therefore, how many helping options are out there that I CAN do?
  • With limitless potential in the world to find a new passion, what do you have to do to go about finding one? In your own quest, write down all the things you find even remotely interesting and try giving each of them a good go before deciding whether you like it or not.
  • What have you done about that “pipe dream” you have always wanted to do? In my case, it was writing. So, I am now a published author. Will I be rich? Probably not, but I did it, I fulfilled a very old pipe dream. Redefine your dreams, they don’t have to make you money. Trust me, it didn’t diminish the feeling of fulfillment, deprive you of the joy and yes, it can give you the motivation to you need to carry forward.
What gets you out of bed
Photo by Vlada Karpovich on Pexels.com

Having the courage to follow through with my passion liberated me to an extent. I had a goal in front of me and as a result, I had something productive to pursue.

Check out our MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES PAGE

The Result of which was amazing! I was out of bed more, I woke up with a renewed sense of anticipation.

I could make plans and coordinate with others in relation to making my book a reality. Essentially, it was the kick in the ass that I needed.

While it’s far from being a cure, it has been very therapeutic and has led me closer to the light of the living. Exploring my dream really has been a powerful force for healing. So tell me, what gets you out of bed.

The Road To Mental Wellness – The Book. Cover Reveal.

Good day all! I am excited to announce that I will be revealing The Road To Mental Wellness Book cover, probably in mid January. BUT…. if you subscribe to our newsletter, you will be one of the first to see it. Psst! I also hear a rumour that subscribers will get a first look at what lies beyond the cover. I will be sending a letter to our subscribers with the cover design sometime next week. So if you are as excited as I, subscribe today so you don’t miss out on this exclusive sneak peek!

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You can't ignore PTSD

You can’t ignore PTSD

You can’t ignore PTSD

In our society, we tend to think that we are failures if life takes us off our planned path. But are we really failures? I’d like to make the argument that when life takes us off course, we can forge a new way forward.

When I was a firefighter, I pushed myself well beyond my mental abilities; thinking I could just shake off the traumatic events I witnessed and get back on the rig for the next call.

I suppose this myth I was telling my self worked for a while, or, so I had thought. Turns out, that I was not coping at all; I was, in fact, doing more and more damage.

Knowing your mental limits

When the time came that my mental strength was all but exhausted, I felt defeated; like I had failed. After all, none of my colleagues seem to be having this issue. On the day I resigned, I felt like a complete and utter failure. To add to this perceived failure, was this head to toe feeling of weakness and shame.

A double whammy

Who knew that pushing through my mental pain would be such a bad idea? I really wish I had known at the time; it may have saved the rest of my life from coming unravelled. However, my reality has been forged by the fact that I didn’t know.

Due to my decisions to keep fighting on with no regard for my mental health, I lost; my feelings of failure were compounded by the fact that I had recognized my illness too late. Perhaps its more accurate to say that I pushed it down and packed my trauma so tight that it finally snapped.

Whichever was the case, the mental pain my fire service days had leached into every facet of my life. This sad reality I faced would include my work life too.

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Making my living as a health care worker was not an easy one to say the least. I had witnessed some pretty traumatic incidents there too. While this was my was also my reality, the cornerstone for my PTSD without question, stemmed from the fire service.

Regardless, I had mentally bled out for far too long and before I knew it, my mistaken resilience crumbled under the weight of my mental illness. Only a few short years after calling it quits as a volunteer firefighter, I would find myself making an exit from my workplace as well; proving that you can’t ignore PTSD, it will indeed, get you in the end.

Is failure such a bad thing?

While I thought for years after I left the service that I had failed at everything I loved; I’m happy to say that I was wrong. Failure is just a conduit for success so long as you keep moving forward. Doing what I have to do, has been slowly leading me down the road to mental wellness and as a result, I have discovered new passions along the way.

man standing on rock during sunset
Photo by Mathew Thomas on Pexels.com

When every aspect of my life went off the rails, I turned to writing in a desperate attempt to sort out what was going on inside my head. Consequently, a new passion was ignited; a love for writing.

You can’t ignore PTSD, this is true but if you are manning up, shoving it down or in just plain old denial, please know that when PTSD becomes too much, there is life after the military or emergency services. Failure is an option as long as you understand this: PTSD or any mental illness is not something you choose to have and secondly; as humans, we are gifted with the ability to discover other passions. So in that regard, no matter what we go through in life, we can always find something that gives us our love for life back.

Keep moving forward.

Lemonade Stand Vol. III is a collection of 20 authors who have PTSD because of their military and or emergency services background. They bravely tell their stories in hopes that will help end stigma within the services and within mental health in general. Its other objective is to give people who are afraid to speak a voice.

When I read the stories from the other authors, it was like I was reading the story of my own struggles. I quickly realized that this book will not only help those with PTSD but may very well provide their spouses and families with insight into their loved one’s mental illness.

Pre order today at https://theroadtomentalwellness.com/blog__trashed/lemonade-stand-iii/

20 authors their story of PTSD

Checkout the book I helped to write

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!

Pre order today

If you are struggling please go here for help: Crisis Services Canada

Want help fund my book? donate: GOFundMe – The Road To Mental Wellness – The book

Contact me on my Facebook page: facebook.com/TRTMW

Jonathan Arenburg1 Comment