Mental Health = Part Time Job

The more you treat mental health like a part-time job the easier it becomes.

I remember the first time I tried making an appointment with a therapist — just the process of getting the names of eligible providers took over half an hour dealing with the insurance company, only to then have to cold-call 50 therapists individually feeling like a snake oil salesman and hoping to get a return call.

I was SO frustrated this whole time — at being put on hold, at calling dozens of people to not even get a return call, to feel stressed at the uncertainty of all of it.

But the deeper I got in my mental health journey, the more I realized that like anything else — this process is about the work. The work to line up the therapist. The work in setting up consistent appointments with my care team. The work in being vulnerable and facing things I would prefer not to. The work in practicing mindfulness, journaling, and other tools to help develop my stress/anxiety management skills.

The discipline to sit down each day and do the very real work that needed to be done.

Hard work. Discipline. Time. Essential ingredients of any mastery.