Mental Health

                                  Arogya paramā lābhā
                                                 (Health is the Greatest Gain)
                                                                   by Bhante Debongshi
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                Maintaining good mental health is equally as important as maintaining good physical health. If you are to pursue a successful life, one’s psychology is a key focus. It governs all other areas of life. Strategy shows our psychology is responsible for 80% of success while other aspects like natural and social environment etc. is responsible for 20% of success. You can imagine how hard it is to remain mentally healthy. The Buddha pointed out it’s possible to find people in the world who are physically well for maybe a month, for years, even for a hundred years; but hard to find a person who is mentally well even for a moment.
            The mind and body are separate mechanisms of our life, but they are also deeply interconnected. Therefore, when you are mentally ill it affects your physical health. In order to accomplish your goals it is important to have to be optimistic and a healthy mindset. I am referring to a positive mental attitude. When the mental attitude gets stronger it changes your emotions and your psychology improves, that means the mental health improves. You will notice that the people with a positive mental attitude are always happy, energetic, resilient, and successful. They actively engage in the path of success, have passion for knowledge, and have awareness to self and the world. They offer constructive answers frequently rather than posing difficult questions. They can easily pursue a better life because of their healthy psychology.
           But those who are mentally ill have a deficit in their psychology and have great difficulty in life. They are doubtful in almost everything. The people with doubtful attitudes tend to believe that negativities are unavoidable, one way or another causes them to accept it as true and undermine all of their ability. Gradually this negative habit develops on itself and turns to depression. That’s how the pessimists look at the conflict of life and in way they judge the world. On the other hand with positive mental attitude the optimist tends to look at hardship as a test, as impermanent, as a blessing, failure as to promising victory. So they find the way out as they wait for their success.
                If you think you’re caught up by any negativity, it is important to change the habit primarily by focusing on a goal. Get advice from optimistic people on how to train yourself to be more positive and stay determined to achieve a healthier life.
May all beings be well and healthy!
                                                                     Metta!