Manage, do not attempt to master, your mental health

It is always more realistic to manage our mental health than aspire to master it.

To err is to be human, they say.

It seems so simple, I know.  One thing I’ve come to realise about myself is that managing my mental health is more a task of mastery than mastering my mental health ever could be.

It’s such a pity that we focus on needing to see people healthy of mind, when it would be better to look at the resilience of a person who has battled to overcome their mind.

Think of the respect they acquire in owning their lot and acknowledging their frailties.

The person who is overcoming their mind, and is learning to manage their mental health, is a person both tenacious and wise, and they are humble, too, because they know just how much work has been involved, and they respect everyone on that journey.

The person who manages their mental health, including the ups and downs, and accepts their lot, is a person that God has taught to be humble.  They know their limits of control and they accept what they cannot change.  And see again how they have the courage to change the things that they can.

They have experienced the temptation of the enemy trying to entice them to master what only God can master.  They have learned by bitter experience that perfection is the enemy of the good, and that progress is all we can have a hope to attain to.

Have you noticed that those people who have settled for managing their mental health rather than insisting they master it seem much more patient with others?

But those who insist on mastering their mental health either blur into denial or tempt madness.

There is a grace that resilience teaches us, and we do well to celebrate the acquisition of such teaching.

It is always more realistic to manage
our mental health than aspire to master it.