As I am researching articles and studies for the Body/Mind Program for Shine The Light On Kids, I read the following:

“People who have good emotional health are aware of their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. They have learned healthy ways to cope with the stress and problems that are a normal part of life. They feel good about themselves and have healthy relationships.”

Well, there you go…all set.

This seems to me to be the body-image issue of the mental health world. Do any of us do these things all the time? I’m not sure about you, but I am often aware of my thoughts, feeling and behaviors, but sure as heck don’t always know why I am having them, at least not all the time, and what to do about them. I still feel good about myself (most of the time) even though I don’t have it all figured out.

This isn’t what I want to teach anyone, especially kids. It’s o.k. if they don’t have it together all the time. They can strive for the above, but if they don’t achieve mental-health nirvana, that doesn’t mean that they’re not o.k.

When I have been my most honest, when I admit it all, whatever ‘it’ is, when I am not coping well at all, when I don’t feel good about myself at all, when I am the most confused, is when I feel the most human, the most connected….and oft times when I’m at my best..

So…my version is…

“People who have good emotional health are sometimes aware of their thoughts, feelings and behaviors, and even if they’re not, they’re still o.k. They’ll learn and do better next time. They have learned healthy ways to cope-well, most of the time- with stress and problems that are a normal part of life. Most of the time, they feel good about themselves, and many, though not all, of their relationships are healthy.”

Better.