The Most Important Thing Is Having Something To Look Forward To

How creating daily moments of respite can compound to help our general mental health

Image by 昌杰 李

Sometimes we have no option but to deal with unpleasant stuff. Things get rough, they can get rough for a limitless number of reasons. It may be at work or home. It may be our fault or somebody else’s. The circumstances are completely irrelevant for today’s article.

For a long time now, I have regarded mental health like I regard physical health. Even the healthiest of us will get a cold from time to time, and there is no shame in that. I feel more fortunate than I can express about my health, both physical and psychological. I tend to catch a cold every year, if that, and the symptoms are always mild. I think I have only ever missed one day of work due to a health problem (food poisoning, ugh). Granted, I try to eat healthily and exercise regularly, but I like beer and pizza and I spend most of my day sitting at my desk. More than anything, I am lucky to be healthy. Having a good immune system is something to be grateful for and nothing to be proud of.

Mental health is almost always trickier since the wounds are much easier to hide. That said, there are seemingly insignificant practices that can keep our minds healthier, just like eating vegetables and going for a jog will do for our bodies. Once again, I feel fortunate to have directed my madness in this direction. I’ve been aware of the voices in my head for as long as I can remember, so I can’t say I’ve exerted myself to do what I do. I’ve simply always done it.

Today I wanted to write about one of these little tricks anyone can apply to their day-to-day. Far be it from me to give anybody any advice. Chances are you already have something like this. If that’s the case, I can only hope my words help give this underestimated practice the recognition it deserves.

Here it goes: I always have something to look forward to. Yes, it is that stupidly simple. It can be the most menial thing, like twenty minutes for ourselves to read a book, or to watch a show, or to have a drink at our local’s, or to call our best friend or sibling or parent. Every burden becomes lighter by the lowest reward we can afford to offer ourselves. Indeed…