Purpose Archives - The Road To Mental Wellness

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

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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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Keep moving ahead with purpose.
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Before you reading, Moving Forward With Purpose, 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

There’s an old saying that I have grown rather fond of over the years. No doubt you’ve heard of it too. It’s this “put one foot in front of the other”. While it’s not that long and is seemingly unremarkable, it has nonetheless, seen me through some of my darkest days.

One of the reasons this short sentence ended up being on my favs play list is because when I think of it, it reminds me to slow down and that my battle is a hell of a battle. I need the right weapons to go to war. Plus, when I “slow down,” I can regroup and remind myself that I am indeed moving ahead with purpose.

Purpose, a single word loaded with a whole heap of helping potential. This was probably the single most important take away from my time at Rally Point Retreat, a peer support facility for service persons with PTSD. The owner told me that peer support is so important because it can help to define ones new purpose for moving forward.

Finding Purpose with PTSD

If you’re struggling to understand just how fundamentally powerful the word purpose is; perhaps you need to ask yourself these questions; How far can one make it without a sense of purpose? And furthermore, how can one see a future without it? Undoubtedly, you will reach the same conclusions that I have.

See, one small seemingly insignificant word does indeed play a pivotal role in one’s success, even at the best of times. But I happen to think that, for those with a mental health condition, it can be a matter of survival. I know in my case, it is, at times, the one element that can make me or break me.

Because I am also on the main battlefield of my own mind, fighting not only PTSD, but also major depressive disorder, I NEED purpose, almost as much as I need support and connection. Think it as the fuel that keeps the convoy of mental health tools rolling toward my internal conflict. Without it, I would be a sitting duck against depression’s impressive might.

The resources I deploy.

Ok, so shouting out that moving ahead with purpose is essential for survival is easy. However, how do we find things that matter? For me, and I am willing to bet, many others, there is a hidden passion hiding deep within; we are simply too afraid to let out.

In order for me to find purpose, I had to dust off a passion that I have held in captivity for well over twenty years; locked it away in a dungeon of fear. So, what’s this passion I speak of? Well, you’re reading it. It’s writing.

Ever since I was in my teens, I have dreamed of being a writer. Didn’t matter, songs, short stories, poems whatever, I loved it. Sadly though, I had to give up on this “pipe dream” to man up and follow the millions of young people who were conforming to the cookie cutter mythical expectation. I mean, we are suspposed to pick a career that supports a living that society says will get us the “dream” life. The house, the partner, the kids; the list goes on and on.

There’s just one tiny problem with this expectation, it’s someone else’s dream. Now that I am older and have tried the traditional lifestyle, I am just tired and mentally ill enough from it to understand that I want my dream. Thankfully, nowadays, I care little for what others think of me. Because I care a little for other people’s opinions, I am free, liberated to follow what it is I love.

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Essentially, I am moving ahead with purpose, my purpose. And I’m finally, I am chasing my dream and man, I’m doing it! This blog, has helped me make baby steps towards my goals and thus aiding my recovery. To add to it, I have somehow, despite spending over half my time in bed or hiding, I have become a published author, appearing in Lemonade Stand Vol. III. While I find it difficult to extract joy out of almost everything, I am grateful to have done it. The work that came with the project kept the super fuel, purpose flowing and thus helping memove forward.

While it’s true that this i’Ampossibe Project initiated book kept me going, I am perhaps most proud of my own book; The Road To Mental Wellness. This is a remarkable achievement because, I finally finished it, the final rough draft. It’s complete! Now it’s off to an editor for a good going over.

What’s so amazing about it is the very fact that, in the face of PTSD and all my time in bed, overwhelmed and otherwise symptomatic, I FINISHED IT! I know I already mentioned this but honestly, it can not be overstated. It’s monumental because there are few things I have seen through to completion once I got sick. So what’s the common denominator? You guessed it, a single word that means so much, purpose.

I sincerely hope that you find the strength to follow your passions and start moving ahead with your passions. I think if you do, you will find yet another reason to keep going done your road to mental wellness.