The month of May is Mental Health Awareness Month. I know there’s a buzzword called mindfulness, but I wanted to share some of my self-work.
I heard this quote recently and I was compelled to share it.
“We don’t fail, we reach our capacity!”Antoinette’s Corner
One thing I’ve tried to be mindful of is my feelings, my emotions, and how I process things. The quote posted above spoke volumes to me because of society’s preconditioned idea of “failure.” I’m working on becoming more mindful of my feelings, emotions, the things I tell myself, and even how I decide to process information.
While I may have initially labeled a task that didn’t meet my expected outcome as a possible failure, I can now say I reached my capacity for that task. I may have more capacity to problem solve, try it again tomorrow or even ask someone else for assistance, but one thing I’m not going to say is I failed.
Also, on my mindfulness journey, I’m conscious of my emotions and try not to let them control me because I know they fluctuate like this Texas weather. For example, before I react because something may have been an initial trigger I’ll have a conversation with a trusted friend or chat with the person. Being mindful for me means just because an action may invoke an initial emotion, it doesn’t mean that emotion is valid. I have to weigh my emotion against what I know about the person, is it a repeated behavior or maybe it is something that needs greater clarification. I’ve learned you can chat all day, but if you don’t have understanding – the words are meaningless.
Listen y’all, we are products of the things we say to ourselves, what we consume, and the people we hang around. What you verbalize you become. What you believe about yourself you become. Being mindful of these things may be the mental health break you need.
