Maat E's Mental Health Message

What you give off is what you will get?

Many people live day in and day out frustrated by family members or friends who seem difficult,  mean, irritable and unkind. Many of us feel unhappy in our relationships because we perceive our mates as poor communicators, selfish or uncaring.

Before we can cast the blame on others we have to be lovingly critical of ourselves. It can be difficult, but we have to look in the mirror to see if we are in fact nurturing the negative. Ask yourself, am I being controlling, do I harshly judge, do I treat strangers better than my loved ones, will I curse out my own relative more quickly than someone I don't know? If the answer is yes you must first change your ways before blaming someone else. The energy you put out is what you will get back. Try approaching everyone, yourself included from a place of love and speak honestly yet lovingly no matter what you say. The stance you take can be the one to make the difference. 

Peace,

Dr. Ma'at E. L. Lewis

Do what is difficult!

The difficulties we face on a daily basis are exactly the challenges we need in order to learn how to endure the ups and downs of life. Many of us repeatedly question why certain obstacles happen to us. Why can't I find a job? Why doesn't anyone love me? Why is life so hard?  The only valid answer to any of these questions or any other question for that matter is found in the response that includes an understanding of what lessons you are to gain from your troubles. What realization do you need to become more apparent to you. Perhaps you can't find a job because there are forces of racism at work that you have not been conscious of. Maybe it doesn't seem like anyone loves you because you are still learning what it looks like to love yourself.  Perhaps life seems so hard because it is hard and the lesson to learn is how to endure the challenges of life, since they will always be there in some form or another. Do what is difficult, there is something in it for you and you will  eventually see the lesson.

Maat E's Mental Health Message

Admit you need help!

For so many of us, especially professional helpers, caregivers, people in service professions and activists, acknowledging we need help for ourselves can be challenging to admit.  When you are not use to it receiving support can seem ten times harder than giving it. As hard as it may be to admit, the best helpers are people who recognize they can not do everything themselves and know that two heads are better than one or there is great power in the efforts of a group. Saying you need help no matter how big or small the issue or task is essential to avoiding burnout and becoming overtaxed. For some one it may mean the difference between life and death. Learn your limits, prioritize your needs and ask for help.

Peace,
Ma'at E. L. Lewis

Maat E's Mental Health Message

Everyone has a spiritual process.

Being in a spiritual process is when we either consciously or unconsciously experience a series of actions or events relating to or affecting our spirit or soul. For most people in society this process goes on unnoticed and we are unaware that our spirit is being affected by the daily events that go on around us. When we are unconscious of our spiritual process we tend to miss the opportunity to witness not only mystical events, but the miraculous changes that come when we are conscious. Being  conscious and aware of our spiritual process means honoring the most sacred essence of who we are and trusting that everything is in divine order, even when we can't explain it.  Trusting divine order does not mean we do not take action to make things change, it means we trust that the actions we take will lead to the change that is necessary. This is very difficult when we don't see life as a spiritual process, yet, holding the trust becomes easier and easier the more we acknowledge we are on a spiritual path.  

Maat E's Mental Health Message

Expect a miracle and it will more likely appear. Deny a miracle and it will never be true. Life has many miracles to offer but if we do not expect them or worse yet if we deny them when they occur we will not be able to reap their benefit. Trust in the wonders of life and live with the expectation that miracles and your dreams can come true.  

You have to believe it to manifest it. 

Dr. Ma'at E. L. Lewis

Maat E's Mental Health Message

Turn worry in to work!

Anxiety and worry can be a natural response to the stress and demands of everyday life. For some of us the worry can become overwhelming and we become stuck or paralyzed so to speak. We may begin to procrastinate, which is essentially worry plus avoidance. To combat what can become a difficult obstacle we must start to turn the worry in to work. Use the anxiety or fear to motivate yourself with activity. Start with small things or what you worry about the least.  Working on what is pressing will get the most important thing done, but you may not be ready yet. So work on what worries you the least. That will keep you productive and feeling a sense accomplishment even though you are afraid to address what is most important.  The negative emotions can be used for good. 

Peace,
Dr. Ma'at E. L. Lewis

Ma'at E's Mental Health Message

Know your limits!  There are no limits.Your current situation may be an influence to your current status, but it does not have to be the determinant of your life. Let your will and talent decide how far you can go and how much you can achieve, not the messages of no you receive. If the ancestors like famous opera singer Marion Anderson, born on this day in 1902, can go from being raised in Philadelphia, PA to traveling the world and being a lead performer in the New York Metropolitan Opera Company, any of us can defy odds and limitations to achieve our dreams. Know that your limit has not limit.
Peace,
Ma'at E. L. Lewis