The most important indicator of good mental health

I’m going to say it right up front.  The most important indicator of good mental health is IN-SIGHT—that ability to see TRULY, as all of life actually is, i.e., ourselves, others, situations, etc, and to live out of this truth.

First and foremost, it’s seeing that you’re beloved and second, and just as important, it’s seeing that you’re fallible.

If we can’t see the first state—that we’re beloved—we end up with horrendous self-image and are prone forever more to spiritual attack.

If we can’t see the second state—that we’re fallible—we end up hurting others.

If we can’t see either, we’re a danger to ourselves AND others.  The saddest thing about this, apart from the threat we pose to others, is we stand far apart from the true blossoming potential every human being possesses.

But with insight—that ability to truly see what truth there is to see—we can accept ourselves for who we are, and we can accept it when we fail.  With the capacity to endure the moment’s shame and guilt for what they are, we’re not crushed by the circumstance of acute embarrassment for falling short.  Paradoxically, when shame and guilt are faced in those moments of getting it wrong, they’re processed quickly; they don’t stick, meaning they only stick when we’re acutely ashamed of our shame and resentful we feel guilty.

With insight, we’re not crushed, because our fate does not lie in our performance.

Our fate is not in what we do or don’t do, it’s in WHO we are.  Not that this is any excuse to do what is inconceivably wrong—nobody with insight would wilfully harm others or themselves.

Yet, because we’ve all had times lacking in insight—when our mental health was askew for instance—we’ve engaged in harmful activities.

The greatest gift on earth is what those in the Old Testament called “the fear of the LORD,” which is a much-unexplained concept.  The fear of the LORD is true sight.

But you and I might have the wrong perceptions for what this truly is.

True sight is picking ourselves up in our BIAS.  Who does this routinely?  No, we typically live in bias—a cacophony of unconscious bias a lot of the time.  And it doesn’t matter who we are.  Insight is the humility to see when we fall for the lie of a false perception.  My typical personal default is picking myself up in my bias AFTER the event or overcompensating for it BEFORE the event.  Of course, it’s better to see your wrong ‘better late than ever’ but it’s still a fallibility.

Insight helps us to know that “the heart is deceptive.”  (Jeremiah 17:9)  Yes, the fact of unconscious biases proves this concept.  But insight helps.  Insight helps us have a healthy distrust of our first perceptions, enough in fact to fact-check them.

The prayers of Psalm 139:23-24 and John 4:24 say, “God, help me SEE,” for seeing is worshipping in Spirit and in TRUTH.  A person with insight cannot live in perpetuating a lie.

The best contributions we make in life is to see ourselves, others, circumstances, and things AS THEY ACTUALLY ARE.  Nobody is due the disdain of violence, not even those who are violent.  When we kill others with our thoughts, we kill the very idea in ourselves that we’re beloved.

Everyone is both beloved and fallible.  The blessed can see this both about themselves and others at the same time.

This is the mental health we need to nurture in ourselves and others—the capacity for true sight of IN-SIGHT.

Photo by Nathan Maduta on Unsplash