Are you living your mental health 'diagnosis'? Changing the narrative to understand that you are more than your diagnosis. Choose to look through a different lens

All of us look at the world through our own lens. A lens that causes us to instinctively recognise threats, opportunities and patterns, each according to our biases and preferences. For some people that's optimism, always looking at the bright side and for others, it is another perspective.

'I suffer from depression, so can't get a job'

'I suffer from generalized anxiety, so all my relationships fail'

How often have we either heard these words, or actually used them ourselves? Have you ever considered that 'being anxious' is a state that you are in due to perhaps some external factors and influences that either have happened in your life or are currently happening, when in reality, (if you look deep within yourself and ask yourself honestly) there have been times throughout your life where you have not been anxious?

If we look within ourselves, honestly, and reflect on our life, lived experiences and a whole range of events that have impacted us, would it not be fair to say that we have had at least once, if not twice (or more!) moments in our lives where we have felt some of the below emotions:

happy
sad
thrilled
anxious
excited
depressed
grief
fear
contentment

And the answer no doubt ...yes!

We have all experienced some or all of the above emotions at certain milestones or stages in our lives and ironically, I have never in my life heard anyone say:

'I suffer from contentment', or 'I have been diagnosed with happiness'.

Can you image how different life would be, if we regularly diagnose ourselves with 'excitement', 'happiness', 'contentment'...what would your life look like if you highlighted those emotions, rather than look for the negative and deficit ones such as grief, anxiety, depression?

This is not to say that you are not able to validate or experience feeling sad or unhappy, because life can throw a curve ball from time to time - what is interesting to consider is if we are being brutally honest with ourselves, we can add times that have been better, more positive, filled with joy and happiness but perhaps we choose not to highlight these 'good times' as much as we focus on the negative.

In summary: We can train ourselves to balance our view.

We live in a world that is very focused on 'it worries me'...so how would your life look if you chose to look at both sides of the emotional fence? We all have the power to change our perception at any given time, thereby changing our reality. Instead of being a victim of circumstances, where we think that our perception is formed FROM the things that have happened to us, we take back control of our own lives and change the lens on our cameras!

Better option!

Not sure where to start? Well, you have come to the right place...let's see what thread we can pull and help you adjust your view, your thinking and ultimately, how you feel.