What a crazy, crazy, busy week it has been. Between functions, talks, training, work and events, I have barely had a chance to breathe and once again was taught about the importance of balance. The past week was mental health awareness week accumulating with mental health awareness day on Thursday. I have been involved in 2 initiatives over the past week that works hard to fight the stigmas people have of mental health. The first being the TV show, Mental Matters, that I took part in and wrote about last week in my blog, ‘And so much more made sense‘ which finally aired on Friday and you can watch that here. And then also all the Crazy for Walking initiatives that happened over the week which included plenty of walking and some interesting talks. The week also included an NA party and training happening at work. So very busy and as the week went on I started feeling more and more exhausted.
It was time for me to learn another lesson, well, re-learn a lesson I know well but often forget. Balance!!!! Living life in balance is exceptionally important for both my mental health and my recovery. It’s also important for my sanity. While I may be a people person in terms of being confident and putting myself out there I am also an introvert and too much time around other people exhausts me to the extent I can sleep for hours afterwards to recharge. With the week being so busy and full of people I was feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. Sometimes being in a good place mentally causes me to forget I need to balance out the amount of time I spend with people and by myself. Balance the relaxing times and busy times.
Understanding introverts and extroverts can be confusing and not really as simple as being the life of the party or the shy person in the corner. Belle Beth Cooper summarises it nicely in her article on Fast Company by saying” Introverts are tricky to understand since it’s so easy for us to assume that introversion is the same as being shy, when, in fact, introverts are simply people who find it tiring to be around other people.’ Read the rest of the article here for a more in-depth understanding. Being an introvert I need that time alone to recharge but because I often have a lot of fun with other people around I forget and then become exhausted and irritated because I am neglecting to recharge my own battery. It is important to understand where you fit in and what charges your battery when managing your recovery and mental health as when your battery becomes empty things start going haywire and out of control.
So, back to balance after that quick diversion. For me to remain mentally healthy and act responsible I need to be careful about maintaining balance. Not just in how much I do or don’t spend time with people but also in what activities I am partaking in. An easy way I remember the basic categories is the acronym SPICE, this stands for spiritual, physical, intellectual creative and emotional. As long as I am filling up these cups evenly and often my life remains in balance and everything stays stable and easy to manage. Now I can do any of the above with or without people and so I need to ensure that I am also balancing my activities the recharge and deplete my battery at the same time. For example, I might practice the ‘physical’ part by walking with a group of people but then work on the ‘intellectual’ part by studying a course online by myself. I can be creative with others or by myself depending on what I am needing at that moment.
So, after spending a weekend mostly sleeping (hence this blog only coming out on a Monday instead of the usual Sunday) to recuperate and recharge I need to look at my days going forward and ensure that I am balancing my life both by the activities that I am engaging in and the people(or lack of people) I surround myself with. I think the lesson is that I mustn’t be afraid of offending people or having FOMO but rather place the importance on my mental health that it deserves to have. So if you are a friend of mine or someone else who sometimes says no when you invite us out please understand that it is not necessarily that we don’t want to spend the time with you just that possibly we cannot spend the time that you have chosen because we are busy recharging or partaking in activities that allow us to live balanced lives the best we can. On the other hand, if you understand your friend’s needs well and they are always saying yes to the same thing or spending too much time alone or with others, challenge them and hear what is going on before making a judgement.
Here’s to having a happy balanced week for me and everyone else out there.
Twikst 