Physical Health = Mental Health ~

Mental Health = Spiritual Health ~

Your Health = Your Physical, Mental and Spiritual Health ~

Have you ever considered what makes you healthy? We all want to be healthy, but it seems there are a million definitions out there. Your health is the sum of your physical, spiritual and mental health. Each is directly correlated with the others. Our definitions of each should be personal and unique. However, you cannot be in top physical shape without intentionally nurturing your mind and faith. I don’t believe you can have strong spiritual health when you are not tending to your emotional and physical needs. Like moving your body, being outside, taking stock in your emotions, sharing and connecting with others, fueling up with adequate nutritional foods and water, building a foundation built on faith and community, resting in peace on this side of Heaven.

All are equally important and dependent on the others.

You cannot hide from our struggles, because no matter where you go, they find you. You cannot shop, eat, drink, or scroll it away. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, it is simply a part of being alive.

If we are honest with ourselves, we have all experienced mental health struggles. Maybe it is a job change, health report, or heartbreak that was more difficult than you could’ve ever prepared for. It could be the distance between you and that dream seems too far to catch. Maybe it’s just because you’ve turned on the news and yet again the world is dark, devastating and incredibly disappointing. It could be someone you love is gone and it has taken more from you than you feel like you can come back from. 

A pivotal moment for me was shortly after my brother left this earth. I expected the world to stop. Somehow, everything kept spinning. The sun kept coming up every day and I couldn’t comprehend how life was just supposed to keep going. I was walking our two kiddos into preschool, which happened to be at my childhood church. This was not always a place I felt like I belonged growing up, but it was a place I always felt safe. 

As we walked past the Chapel, I imagined myself running towards the altar, falling on my knees and begging God for help. I felt like I was sinking into darkness like quicksand, and I didn’t see a way out. But then, I looked down at our daughter on my left side and our son to my right, holding my hands and walking me to their classroom. They were guiding me. They were keeping one foot in front of the other, holding me together when all I wanted to do was fall apart. 

The Director of the Preschool walked by as I hugged my son and we gave our goodbye kisses. “Ask her to pray for you” popped in my head, not as an idea, but as a command. With everything in me and tears filling my eyes, I said, “Christine, can you pray with me?”. Although she had plans to go read a story to a classroom, she said “absolutely, hold on just one minute.” 

“Hold on” I told myself. I poured out to her and then she prayed over me, my mom and our family. She gave me a hug I desperately needed, and I was able to walk out of there with my head held a little higher, and the weight of every step a little lighter. “Hold on” I told myself.

I just kept going step-by-step, one day at a time. God carried me in the moments where I was too weak, He gave me the people and the resources I needed to get through each day. This was only one of the many many moments and many many people that have helped me rise up out of the darkness that has grabbed ahold of me throughout my life. 

I have witnessed and experienced extreme mental illness and addiction since birth. Nature vs Nurture, both are impactful, and both can create a cycle that can be replicated from generation to generation. What is seen on the outside isn’t always what is felt on the inside. Sometimes seeds of addiction and mental health struggles are growing in the Student Council, on the Cheerleading Squad, or alongside the Honor Role.

No one is immune. 

Temptation and shame have been in our midst since the Garden of Eden. Heathy coping skills are the kind of wealth we should all be compiling and passing on to our children and the next generations.

I have tried many ways of coping throughout my life and some took me down dark valleys. I can see now that nothing was wasted, every single valley was worthy of experiencing. Although trying to do things my way often led me to more darkness, I’ve learned you have to face the darkness to feel the vibrancy of light.

It takes the most strength to say, “I need help”, even if it starts as a whisper. It only takes small steps to lead you to higher ground.

Hummingbirds flap their wings around 70 times per second. That’s 4,200 times per minute and they can fly at double the speed of the average bird. They are quick, adaptable and agile, making incredibly fast changes in direction midair. Life will knock us down, cause sudden ripples of change, and call us to unknown places. Every single small step can create vast improvements overtime.

Even when we feel small, we are still capable of enough strength to keep going.

God does not cause bad things to happen. He only promises to get you through. No matter the circumstances, if you choose to follow Him, God will always provide. Trust and see, He will turn all things good, in ways greater than we could ever ask for or imagine.

Without tragedy, we would never know true gratitude. Without deep sorrow, we would never know pure joy. Without dark struggle, we would never know the beauty of peace. Without feeling buried by something, we would never know how to strive to live fully alive. 

When the weight of the world feels like too much, just be like a hummingbird…