In the previous Dr. Sinn’s Bin, we discussed the need to have positive criteria by which to understand mental wellness. Those criteria include (but are not limited to):
- acceptance of and responsibility for emotions; emotional wellness
- reason; thought wellness/cognitive wellness (e.g. rational thinking, learning)
- creativity; intellectual wellness
If there is specific training to achieve physical wellness, then what training is available to achieve mental wellness?
When we seek physical wellness, programs at fitness centers are clearly organized to achieve endurance, flexibility, and strength. What program is available to work towards achieving mental wellness? Mental wellness training is not limited to a gym; however, a gym can be a place to train for mental wellness. Actually, it is appropriate to consider mental wellness training in the sense of learning to play a game.
The game we are learning to play for our mental wellness training is the game of life. What components are involved in learning to play a game? To get started, let’s examine how we learn to play a game like soccer. There is a theory component, and there is a practical component.
When learning to play soccer, you learn the theory by getting an understanding of the rules of the game, the individual skills involved, and the strategies of team play. Now you have an idea of how to play soccer, but you still don’t know how to play. So, you find a team to join. You have team-mates, and you may have a coach. Now you can add a practical component to learn how to play soccer. Your coach gives you and your team instruction and direction during your training sessions, and you prepare for an upcoming game. The game is played, and the next training session picks up on positives and corrects negatives at the direction of the coach. Over time, the process helps you to increase your knowledge of the theory of soccer, and you are able to apply the theory practically as you play more games. You eventually become an accomplished player!
To work towards mental wellness, learning to play the game of life involves understanding the theory involved in playing the game, as well as putting the theory into practice. The theory has to do with understanding the role of emotions, and the difference between forming the destructive versus constructive mindset in the context of the challenges of the day. The challenges include any part of life that involves relationships, like at work or with family and friends, at a gym during a workout, or while playing a sport like soccer. The relationship dynamics that are assessed include how you relate with yourself in the midst of the challenge as well as how you relate with others, including how you respond to how others relate with you. What you do with your challenges is the practical component of how you play the game of your life. These are your actions or behaviours, which are dependent on and consistent with the mindset you form. Your coach can be a mentor, trusted friend or family member, counselor, or psychotherapist; this is a person that can give you feedback on the mindset you are forming, so that you can learn to play the game of life as constructively as you can.
The more you play the game of life constructively, the more you are able to achieve mental wellness. You learn to accept and take responsibility for your emotions, you learn to train your thoughts to reason and rational thinking, and you enhance your creativity.
The book, Put Your Potatoes on the Desktop, talks about the theory of playing the game of life, and explains the theory with practical examples in order to enhance your ability to put the theory into practice. But it is up to you to apply the theory to how you are playing the game in your life.