Can you believe it? Today is Ash Wednesday. I didn’t even get my pancakes yesterday. I forgot. I think I heard the IHOP commercial a few times over the last couple of days. I can remember in past years when the commercial would be aired at least one hundred times the week before Lent began. Now, since the pandemic began, so many things have changed. Something as important as Lent comes without fanfare.
The church set aside this season as a reminder of how God poured his love out to us through Christ when he died on the cross. The solemnity of the season usually reminds me to be repentant of. my sins and to strive to be morally good. For me, I look forward to going to confession and starting with a clean slate. Admittedly, since COVID, Lent has come and gone almost unnoticed for me. In this day and time, with all that is taking place in our city, state, country and world, one would think that something as important as the Lenten season would be one of the most commercialized and celebrated seasons ever.
Many will attend church and receive ashes today in order to begin their Lenten journey for the next forty days. For many, it will be a typical Wednesday, but for me, it will be a conscious effort to start anew. I will pick up where I failed and attempt again to become the woman that God created me to be. I will continue to focus on my mental health while doing all I can to advocate for Mental Illness. Like others battling depression and anxiety, something will probably take place to trigger my illness, but because I’m addressing it, I will handle it better…each time I get better. At the end of these forty days, I pray that those still stuck in the darkness of the stigma will finally be in the light…The light that calls us to shine bright, love ourselves like never before, and take care of our mental health.
It’s time…we need NEW in 2022. It’s March 2, 2022. A new month, and a new season are upon us. Let’s do new things and have new attitudes, new thoughts. I know that the stress of Easter and the memories will knock me off course during this forty-day journey, however, I WILL NOT GIVE IN. Instead, I will give up those things that interfere with my Christian journey and mental health. Whether a man, teen or young adult or woman, we all are on a journey at different times. Some Christian, some spiritual, some personal. Some of us will have to take the journey multiple times, and sometimes we will take it alone. One thing is definite…whatever the journey, it will affect our mental health in some way. Make it your Lenten penitence. Join Dying to be Perfect and beat this mental health crisis. Don’t resist…don’t give in to the temptation…GIVE UP that which is negatively affecting your mental health!
Defy the Stigma
MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS
Types of Mental Disorders
anxiety
depression
bipolar disorder
PTSD
OCD
Eating Disorders (anorexia, bulemia, )
Personality disorders
Narcissism
Psychotherapy
Dying to be Perfect 