Luckily today there is an awareness that good mental health is just as important as physical health in living a happy and meaningful life. I’ve been blessed with great physical health from day one of my life and also to live in the present day of medical technology that can take care of most physical ailments should a problem arise.

My mental health on the other hand hasn’t always been that good.

Luckily I’ve learnt pretty early on that no matter what you’re challenged with in your life, it is up to you to seek out, learn and apply solutions to them. One strategy that can be applied to any challenge you face in life is: seek professional advice. Over the better half of the last decade I’ve been privileged enough to have access to free Counseling through university and rebates to paid sessions through our national health schemes. 

Initially I put this challenge on the 30 before 30 so I could “sort it all out before I turn 30”, believing if I just pumped through therapy sessions I’d come out the end content and happy for the rest of my life. I quickly realised this would not be the case. Instead these 30 sessions will increase my awareness of my own mental behaviors and allow me to create and implement strategies for when the going gets tough. I’m not sure how much information I’ll include in this blog post besides the number of sessions attended. 

One of the main things I’ve learnt is - it’s ok to feel sad, it is a part of the human experience and you shouldn’t run from it, doing so usually leads to more sadness and self destructive behaviors.

I keep coming back to this poem from Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet that sums it up perfectly.

Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.

And he answered:

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?

And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”

But I say unto you, they are inseparable.

Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.

Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.

When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.