What IS Mental Health?

Ever wondered what mental health actually means? Tim Fletcher, Sport and Faith Leader with Sportily, shares his thoughts, questions, and some encouragement for the journey.

"You have more power than you think!!!!

What is mental health anyway?? I hear the term 'mental health' so much these days in all sorts of contexts; some good, some bad, and some ugly. But recently it got me thinking: what even is my mental health, and how aware of it am I???

When you search it, Google AI describes mental health as:

“Mental health encompasses your emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing how you think, feel, act, and interact with others.”

Wow!! If that’s true, then basically everything I do in life has the potential to affect my mental health, for better or for worse. As I thought about this, questions started popping into my head: Am I actually looking after my mental health? Is it really ok not to be ok? What small steps could I take that might actually help me?

There’s loads of research and plenty of brilliant guides out there. I like The 5 Ways to Wellbeing (Mind) and the NHS guide Get Your Mind Plan – Every Mind Matters. These are full of practical tips, but here’s the real question: what does all of that actually look like for you???

So let me encourage you to think about YOU for a second. What’s the first step you could take to look after your mental health? Sometimes we get so focused on the “end goal” and all the things we think we need to do to achieve “good mental health” that it just feels overwhelming. We can also become so fixated on the destination that we lose sight of the journey!!

But breaking things down into smaller decisions and steps can be a huge relief. Simply working out what YOUR next step might be can lead to another, and then another, and that’s how the journey begins. For me, that’s absolutely key to understanding and improving mental health.

It doesn’t matter how old you are, life will always throw things at us — things that test, challenge, encourage, hurt, confuse and enlighten us (and everything in between!). But YOU do have a choice in how you respond.

So here’s a challenge: take a moment right now to check in with yourself. Ask, How am I feeling? Then, whatever your answer is, follow it up with: What can I do to sustain or improve the way I’m feeling today?

As you go from here, remember these points:

• Your mental health journey isn’t a sprint, it’s a lifelong adventure that will change with the seasons of life.
• There are always people who can help, even when things feel really tough.
• Keep checking in with yourself and ask: How am I really doing today?

As a Christian, I believe the Bible when it says that God uniquely created me in his own image. I believe God has given each of us skills and gifts that make us wonderfully unique. He will always be there to love and support us in every part of our lives, no matter what’s going on. And remember the words of worship band Maverick City: “You are not holding God up, so you cannot let him down.”

So why not reach out to him? You never know, you may discover more than you could ever expect or imagine.

Blessings,
Tim Fletcher"

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